


almost is never enough

by fannyann



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, frat AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-17 23:12:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2326580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannyann/pseuds/fannyann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I think I’ve always known that a little. I mean, if I paid attention, at least.” </i>
</p>
<p>  <i>Liam laughs, eyes crinkling up and Calum’s surprised at how easy this is.“That obvious?”</i></p>
<p>  <i>“A little. Love’s funny that way. Think it’s only obvious when you want it to be.”</i><br/></p><p>or; A Frat AU where Calum and Liam are in love with other people but can't quite see what's right in front of their eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	almost is never enough

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Sarah and Jay for holding my hand the entire way through this. Encouraging me every step of the way and lending me your eyes and more skilled grammar and use of commas for beta'ing. Thanks to the group chat for helping me come up with the name of the frat -- that if you'll notice is the closest we could get it to OTP with actual Greek letters -- and especially Sahana for the title. 
> 
> Thank you to Brendan and Jane for lending me your expertise about fraternities and greek life. It made this all the more authentic. Which, is still probably not _that_ authentic in the grand scheme of fraternities.

It’s hot and Calum regrets wearing the jacket the minute they step out of the first house. The sun’s just starting to set and the air is still damp from the afternoon rain; the fabric clings to his skin in the most uncomfortable way, sticky from the humidity. He feels underdressed compared to the flock of boys ahead of them. Luke looks over at him and raises an eyebrow, silently asking _what’s wrong?_ as the two of them fall back from the group a little as they make their way to the next house. 

Calum shakes his head, wondering how Luke does that -- how he can tell the shift in Calum’s mood almost instantly, never needing much more than a twitch in Calum’s face to tell that his mood has changed. He answers, voice lilting in a laugh, “Nothing. Just hot. Should’ve worn something else.” 

Luke’s eyes dart over Calum’s body, lingering on the line of his collar for a moment before looking back at Calum with a small smile, “You look nice, though.” 

Calum shakes his head, calmed by the fact that, if anything, he and Luke are in the same boat. He fidgets with the cuff of his jacket, saying nervously, “I think we might’ve missed the memo on the dress code, Luke.” 

The group of boys in front of them are all dressed in an assortment of khakis and blazers and he and Luke stick out like sore thumbs in their attempt to dress nice. Calum can’t help but smile at the way Luke has paired his only pair of khakis -- or the closest thing he has to them -- with a flannel buttoned to the top and a leather jacket, mouth turning up even more imagining how hot he must be, quietly thankful that his own jacket is lighter than leather. 

Luke shrugs his shoulders, biting his lip nervously, and nodding at the boy in front of them with a shock of green hair. “We can’t be any worse off than he is, can we?” 

Calum shakes his head in laughter, knocking his shoulder against Luke’s as the tension in his body leaves him, huffing out, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t think we are.” 

*

Luke is wrong -- at least to some extent. The next few houses they go to are full of brothers and rushees that turn their noses up at Calum and Luke for what they’re wearing, for looking so casual. It makes Luke fidget with his collar, and toe at the ground dejectedly, apologizing to Calum for being wrong. Calum smoothes Luke’s collar down for him, fixing it from all the fidgeting he’s done, smiling up at him, saying quietly against his ear, “It’s fine, I don’t care.” 

And he doesn’t. Not really. At least this makes his decision easier. Makes his heart calmer about having to pick a house that he likes best. He wouldn’t really want to be part of something that makes Luke so nervous. Wouldn’t want to accept a bid from a house that causes Luke to retreat in on himself all because _he’s not wearing a fucking blazer_ while everyone else socializes around him. 

At those houses, Calum spends his time laughing in a corner with Luke, instead. Shaking his head at the way Luke tries to convince him to go socialize with people -- to make an impression -- telling him quietly, “Wouldn’t want to make one on anyone who makes you look like that, Lukey.” 

Luke fidgets with his clothes less after that, letting Calum drag him along to the rest of the houses with a small smile, making sure to talk to more people once they’re there. But by the time they get to the last house Luke’s all but ready to go, muttering under his breath about how it’s too hot for all of this. 

He’s tried to pawn his jacket off on Calum at least six times and has unbuttoned the top of his flannel to where his collarbones just barely peek out and Calum can’t help but tease him. Can’t help but laugh at the way Luke’s lips quirk up in a relieved smile as they enter the last house and someone is standing by the door taking jackets. 

Luke looks the happiest he’s been all night and whispers against Calum’s ear, making him feel cool and flushed all at once under the thin fabric of his t-shirt, “I like this one the best, already.”

Calum pushes back against him before handing his jacket off and walking away into the rest of the house, saying over his shoulder, “You only like it because they’re letting us take the jackets off.” 

Luke shrugs his shoulders, eyes wide in laughter, “You’re not wrong.” 

 

*

This house is arguably the best, though, even if they hadn’t let the boys take their jackets off at the front door. The president, Louis, fidgets with the knot of his tie as he talks and makes a joke about how even after four years he’s still not used to having to wear so many blazers. His eyes roam the crowd of boys, taking in the various forms of disheveled dress shirts now that they’ve been given the opportunity to loosen up. He smiles sharply when his eyes land on Calum and Luke at the edge of the group, taking in Calum’s black skinny jeans and loose gray t-shirt and how Luke’s unbuttoned his flannel at the top, making eye contact with them both briefly before turning back to the rest of the group and finishing his introduction. 

Luke fidgets next to him nervously and Calum clasps his fingers around his wrist quickly, softly reassuring him and nodding his head slightly toward the two boys giggling into their hands just next to the president. After, those boys make a beeline for Calum and Luke. Calum worries briefly that it’s for the intention of berating them for dressing so casually but then the boy on the right extends his hand to shake Calum’s, firm in his grip, saying warmly, “Hello, I’m Liam Payne. I’m this year’s Pledge Class Educator and Niall and I were just saying that you two might just be our favorites so far.” 

Liam holds his hand for a second too long but Calum doesn’t mind, his skin is warm and soft against Calum’s and his eyes are gentle and welcoming in the way they crinkle up around the edges. It sets Calum at ease for the first time all night and he doesn’t mind talking to Liam at all. Not afraid to ask why they’re their favorites, intrigued. “Oh, why’s that?”

Niall and Liam share a look between each other and then Niall laughs loudly, running his hand through the front of his hair as he says, “Reminds us of us actually.”

Calum and Luke share a look of their own, not really knowing what to make of that until Liam continues for Niall, clarifying, “What he means is: Niall was a fucking dick when we rushed and convinced me that we _didn’t need_ to dress in khakis and blazers because ‘that’s not what people actually do’ or some bullshit and then we -- much like you two-- were fish out of water the whole night.”

Luke laughs next to Calum and he’s happy that Luke’s finally loosening up, letting himself enjoy this. Niall continues, smiling widely up at Calum and Luke, “Luckily enough it worked out for us,” before turning to Liam with a fond smile, “And I wasn’t a dick, Leemo. It got you in the best frat, didn’t it?” 

Liam smiles back, just as fond, saying softly, “That it did.” 

Calum would think they were doing a bit to try and talk their house up if it weren’t for the way they completely disregard him and Luke. Instead, talking to each other as if they are having a private conversation of their own. 

Luke looks at him with a raised eyebrow and Calum just shakes his head, not knowing anymore than Luke does. They’re interrupted by a boy in khakis and a bright green blazer with a long brimmed hat, who crowds up behind Liam, chin resting on his shoulder.

“Liam, Niall, you aren’t trying to scare these boys away are you? I think their outfits show a bit of flair, I like it,” he says, smiling brightly back at Calum and Luke.

He trails his eyes up and down Calum quickly, before passing on to Luke, repeating the trail slower this time, lingering over the way his collarbones peek out from beneath his shirt collar and Calum feels a rush of something in the pit of his stomach at what he says next, “‘specially like this one, Liam.” 

Liam pushes back against him, turning to smile. “No, Harry. We were just telling them that they were our favorites. But it seems like _you_ ,” he emphasises it a bit pointedly, “like them more than we do.” 

Harry bites at Liam’s shoulder and Calum thinks he’s a bit strange, but he’s got Luke next to him blushing and Calum likes that well enough, enough to give him a chance, smiling when Harry finally answers Liam with, “Well, I just like everyone, you know that.” 

Niall barks in laughter, clapping Harry on the back and turning to Luke and Calum with a knowing look of sorts, shaking his head slightly. “That he does. Harry makes the bid process really difficult for us all because he always likes everyone. Always wants everyone for the house. Thinks it’ll make the parties better and all that.” 

Calum’s head spins a bit with the way the three of them are looking at him and Luke, like they’re something important -- something like a prize, almost-- and he just wants to sit. But he doesn’t get to. 

This house is a lot more interesting, a lot more active. He and Luke don’t really get the chance to sit in a corner and laugh at all the boys they think are tools for taking this whole rushing thing too seriously, who turn their noses up at them for not dressing a certain way, because this time this house actually wants them. 

He gets separated from Luke almost immediately, Harry calling over to Liam, “You better make this one my Little, Liam,” before dragging him off to introduce him to some others in the house, leaving Calum standing awkwardly in front of Liam and Niall, fidgeting with his hands just for something to do, suddenly at a loss for words without Luke there with him. 

Liam makes him feel comfortable but his stomach swoops against his will when Liam puts his arm around Calum’s shoulder; the weight is heavy and warm and makes him feel dizzy. Liam leads him into a throng of people, pointing out who’s who in the house. Zayn, a boy with bright eyes and dark hair and a soft smile -- who Liam says is the treasurer and best friends with Louis -- stands in the corner of the room, only coming forward when Louis calls him over, spending the majority of his time watching his brothers talk to the rushees. Then there’s Harry, Social Chairman, which Calum thinks is very fitting from what he’s seen in this brief amount of time. He’s eccentric and a little ridiculous and Calum thinks everyone in the house might be begrudgingly fond of him upon watching him shuffle Luke through everyone, showing him off like some sort of boy wonder, talking him up animatedly as long as people will listen. 

Liam stops finally with Niall. They join him where he’s talking to the boy with green hair from earlier and Liam says, “As I said before, this is Niall. He’s the Secretary. Probably the only one of us in the house that can use a spreadsheet. He handles all the community service hours and meeting minutes and all that.” 

Niall’s eyes perk up, mouth going slack for a moment in the middle of talking. “I _am_ the only one who knows how to use a spreadsheet. These boys are awful. Never let me try and teach them, though.” He turns to the boy that he had been talking to, saying cheerfully, “This is Michael, I like his hair. Think Harry’s gonna love him.” 

Calum shakes hands with Michael, returning his smile, and then Niall and Liam excuse themselves and Calum feels weird, almost sad, at the loss of Liam’s presence. Michael is nice though. He’s fun to talk to and they spend the rest of the night trying to find Luke, or more like, try and get him away from Harry in between making small talk with the other other brothers. By the time the night has wound down, Luke finds them both by the coat rack, eyes bright and smile wide, saying slightly winded, “Have a nice time, Cal? Really liked this one.”

His eyes meet Michael’s, and his face falls momentarily before it lights back up, smile coming back only slightly smaller, blurting out awkwardly, “Hello! I like your hair.” 

Calum covers his mouth, trying not to laugh, knowing Luke’s never been good at introductions, always blurting out some random compliment in attempt to be nice. He remembers the way they’d been introduced. How he’d gone up to Luke the first day of gym in sixth grade to tell him he liked his shoes and how Luke had stuttered back, face flushed and nervous, “I like your nose,” before covering his face in embarrassment, mumbling into his hands to where Calum could barely hear him, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I just meant- never mind. It’s not important.”

Luke recovers easier this time, not nearly as nervous as he’d been when he was eleven, saying confidently, “It’s a nice color. I’m Luke.” 

Michael smiles back, laughing appreciatively. “Thanks, man. I’m Michael.” He nods toward Luke’s lips, “I like your lip ring.” 

Luke flushes and Calum’s stomach does that thing from before again and he nods toward the door, asking before Luke can say anything else, “Ready to go back, Luke?”

Luke turns to him, smiling, eyes softening just for him, and grabs for his jacket, smoothing out the collar as he says, “Yeah. Bit tired.” 

Michael looks between the two of them curiously, asking with a raised eyebrow, “Known each other long?”

Calum answers yes at the same time that Luke says, “Yeah, since sixth grade,” and Calum’s heart swells with how Luke’s face colors in fondness when he says it, looking over to see Michael smile back between the two of them, saying, “And you both ended up at the same school. That’s sick.” 

They head back to the dorms together, Michael living on the floor above the two of them, and spend the walk talking about their favorite houses. It seems that they’re all on the same page about Omicron Tau being the best one of the lot and Calum thinks maybe they’ll all be great friends if they end up there together. 

*

Wednesday night Luke has a mild meltdown about his workload and how he can’t possibly join a frat _and_ take five classes. 

Calum sits on his bed and watches as Luke scrambles through his school supplies in an attempt to organize them. He laughs quietly at the way Luke sighs out frustratedly when the books he puts on the shelf above his desk won’t stay standing, only stopping when Luke shoots him a frustrated look over his shoulder.

Calum sighs, getting up out of bed and moving Luke’s hand out of the way, resituating the books to where they’ll stand and turns to Luke, grabbing his shoulders firmly. “Lucas, your mom told me one thing before we left. She said to me ‘Calum, don’t let my Lukey miss out on the college experience because he’s too worried about studying’. Do you want to turn me into a liar?” 

Luke pushes at Calum’s shoulder, laughing in spite of himself, “She did not!” 

Calum shrugs and laughs with him. “Nah, she didn’t. But still.”

Luke can’t look Calum in the eye, playing with the skin at the edge of his thumbnail and looking around the room for something, anything, not to look at Calum and Calum realizes that this is about something more than studying. 

He touches Luke’s shoulder, bringing his attention back to Calum, asking softly, “Luke, is this about something else? You wanted to join three days ago and now you don’t? I thought you liked Omicron Tau? Thought we both did.”

Luke smiles but his eyes dart everywhere but Calum and he toes at the ground like he always does when he’s nervous and Calum’s heart rushes, not having seen Luke this nervous since sixth grade when the coach had asked them to pair up for badminton and Calum had asked Luke to be his partner.

It takes him a moment, but Luke finally answers, eyes settling on Calum’s, licking over his lip ring nervously. “I do. We did. Just. I dunno, Cal. Seems like maybe it’s not my thing. What if no one likes me? What if no one offers me a bid? You talked to so many more people than me.” 

Calum laughs, amused. “Luke, I wasn’t the one being toted around like the personal arm candy of the Social Chairman of Omicron now was I?”

Luke blushes a deep red, eyes going bright with embarrassment, saying louder than he usually would, “Shut up. I was not!” 

Calum shrugs, mouth quirking up in a smile, “Kind of were. Think Harry took a shine to you.” 

He doesn’t mean to but the words feel heavy in his mouth, coming out slightly jealous around the edge and he hopes Luke doesn’t notice, not knowing why he’d be jealous of Luke being so well liked, knowing it should be a good thing. Luke raises his eyebrows curiously, mouth pressing together ever so slightly at the tone of Calum’s voice but he doesn’t say anything about it, just shakes his head quickly, disagreeing. 

“Harry’s very,” Luke pauses for a moment, mouth turning up in a small smile as he contemplates his words, “eccentric? But he’s really nice. How was that Liam guy? He stuck with you most of the time, too. Seems I wasn’t the only one in high demand.” 

Calum can feel his cheeks flush at the mention of Liam’s name and that just makes him blush harder, not sure why someone he spoke to for twenty minutes max would affect him this way. He clears his throat as Luke’s eyes go wide and questioning, finally saying, “Yeah guess so. He was nice. Had a nice handshake. “

Luke bites his lips, trying not to laugh but his eyes sharpen at the way Calum’s so obviously struggling, saying teasingly, “A nice handshake? Cal, I think you’ve got a crush.”

Calum flops down on his bed, hands covering his face, mumbling against his skin, embarrassed, “I do not!” 

“You’re _blushing_!” 

His voice is teasing, but there’s something in it that Calum can’t quite decipher and it makes him feel defensive, propping himself up on his elbows, saying cautiously, “Maybe he’s a little cute. I dunno!”

Luke looks at him for a long time, eyes slowly making their way over Calum’s face and he feels like he’s being tested, almost. That Luke’s waiting for something in particular, but then his face lights up, his eyes crinkle just the slightest bit around the edges and Calum breathes easier. 

“Fine. I’ll go with you. But if we end up getting bids from them and you get laid you owe me six boxes of Cheerios.” 

Calum’s whole body shakes with laughter. He reaches back and throws his pillow at Luke, saying through shallow breaths, “God, I said he was cute. That’s it!”

Luke shrugs his shoulders, face falling to reveal that same look from before, watching Calum carefully again. “Yeah, whatever. Still gonna owe me those Cheerios if I end up being right.”

* 

The rest of the week passes in such a daze that Calum almost forgets that Bid Day is a thing and by the time they get home Saturday night after dinner he’s surprised by the presence of a handful of brightly colored pieces of paper slipped under their door. Luke has a red one and Calum a blue but both have a bright green slip with the Omicron Tau Rho letters in the upper right hand corner with the message _9:00pm come as you are_ written in tiny black ink. 

For all the fuss Luke had made the whole week about going through Rush Week he looks back at Calum with a huge smile plastered on his face and it only gets bigger as Calum sighs out, “We made it, Lukey.”

The walk to the house isn’t long but it leaves Calum feelings nervous and anxious for what’s to come. Luke puts his hand on Calum’s back as they walk up to the door and leans up against him, lips flush against the shell of Calum’s ear, saying calmly, “Calm down, Cal. They already want you.” 

Calum shudders against him, feeling calmer with Luke’s words. Calum knows Luke’s right, just like he usually is. 

The house is loud and buzzing as they enter. The brothers all talking amongst themselves, drinks in their hands, music blaring. Luke and Calum aren’t the first pledges there, he scans the room once they’re in and sees Michael, green hair still intact, and a few others he recognizes from the past week already chatting to the older boys. 

It seems that they may have been the last ones to arrive because once they join the throng of people near the kitchen Louis’ voice booms from a megaphone somewhere near the living room. Luke gives Calum a wary look before heading toward Louis’ voice, Calum fast on his heels. They find him standing in the middle of the room, flanked by Niall and Liam on his right and Harry and Zayn on his left, five bottles of liquor and a row of twelve shot glasses set atop twelve beer cans lined up at the table in front of them.

Before Calum can register what exactly that means for him, Louis is saying, with a devilish smirk, “Gather round pledges. We’re about to take you around the world in sixty seconds.” 

There’s a groan around the room as the pledges realize exactly what’s in store for them but Louis quiets them, saying, “Come on, we’ve all done it. It’s _tradition_.”

Luke looks at Calum with wide, nervous eyes and Calum just shrugs, smiling just as nervously, whispering as they line up in front of the table, “It’ll be fine Lukey. It’ll be like after homecoming junior year when we tried to finish a bottle of Jack by ourselves.” 

Luke grimaces as Louis starts pouring out the first round of shots of gin, saying a bit frantic, “Calum, we puked all over your front lawn that night.” 

Calum smiles encouragingly, laughing, “Yeah. It’s gonna be exactly like that.” 

*

He does fine. That is until the last shot of tequila comes around. It burns going down more than anything had before and chasing it with a warm can of beer doesn’t help at all. His mouth is a little numb and he hopes after doing all this they let him wash the taste down with something else, something more pleasant, or at least offer him a water of some sort. Calum wipes his mouth and looks back over at Luke who is smiling a bit loopily and saying, “I can’t believe I finished before you.”

Calum shakes his head. “It wasn’t a competition.” 

Luke’s smile only grows wider as a voice from the other side of the table says, “Yeah, actually it was. The pledge that finishes first gets to pick the topic for the first written exam.” 

Luke’s face falls a bit, coloring in confusion, “Written exam?”

Calum’s looking for the person who was talking and sees Liam clap his hands together, saying excitedly, “Yeah. Gotta educate you somehow on all the ins and outs of Omicron life.” 

Calum wrinkles his brow, rubbing at his temple, not excited about that at all and then Liam’s leaning forward to shake someone’s hand, enthusiastically saying, “Well done, Michael. You finished first so it’s all up to you to pick what to study. But we won’t worry about that now. Tonight’s about bonding and brotherhood.” 

Calum doesn’t know how much bonding they can do five shots and a can of beer in but he’s bound to find out as Liam and Niall come around the side of table and start shuffling pledges away. He gets separated from Luke but isn’t too bothered as Liam leads him away, arm slung around Calum’s shoulder once again, feeling just as warm and heavy as it had before. 

Liam leads him into the kitchen, handing him another drink. This time it’s cold and fruity, washing the taste of warm beer down easily and Calum smiles back at him thankfully. He stands in the kitchen for a long time before he sees Luke and Michael come in with Niall, heading toward the table in the corner, Luke stumbling up against Michael. He’s only vaguely aware of Liam leaving his side for a moment, too distracted by the way Luke’s looking at Niall and how he keeps biting at his lip, the way he does when he’s nervous, and Calum wants to go to him. But he doesn’t, not trusting his feet to cooperate, not wanting to leave before Liam comes back. 

It takes him a moment to register that Liam’s next to him, talking again. He hums his response as Liam says, “So Calum, tell me about yourself,” and can’t think past the way Liam’s lips form the words or how nice his eyes look narrowed in on only Calum. 

Liam laughs, asking, “Starting to feel the alcohol? Might wanna sit down soon. It’s gonna hit you hard before you know it.” 

Calum blinks a few times, tilting his head to the side to look at him, trying not to be a bumbling fool, thinking hard before saying, “I like dogs.” 

Liam laughs, low and steady, shoulder vibrating against Calum’s, saying through his laugh, “So do I. But I meant, more like --” 

Liam moves his arm as he searches for the right words and the motion jostles Calum’s side, setting him off kilter. He cuts Liam off, grabbing at his forearm for balance, laughing “Oh, wow. Shit. Green. Green’s nice. But blue. Blue’s my favorite. Like Luke’s eyes. That blue. ” 

Liam laughs so hard, full bodied and almost doubled over, sobering up and looking at Calum sympathetically, “Oh god, you’re just like Harry. He can’t shut up when he’s drunk either.” 

He takes a sip of his drink, face scrunching up in thought, saying after a beat, “Actually, Harry never shuts up once you get him talking.” 

“Hey, that’s not true,” Harry says. He comes up next to Liam, sipping at his drink casually, face set in a pout. His eyes trail over Calum’s body, taking in the way he’s plastered next to Liam’s side, asking, “Having a good time, Calum?”

He rubs at the back of his neck, room spinning ever so slightly, words coming out slower than he’d like, “Yeah, yeah. A little dizzy. But yeah.” 

Harry smirks back at him, sipping at his drink again, looking at Liam, “How’s my pledge fairing up? Doing as bad as yours?”

Liam and Harry share soft smiles before looking off to the corner, Calum follows their line of sight and sees Harry’s eyes narrowed in on Luke, leaning into Michael’s side giggling, cheeks flushed pink, hair starting to fall. Harry sighs, “Same state as yours, then.” 

Liam looks at Calum, eyes darting up and down his body, looking at the way he’s leaning against the counter, no longer needing Liam to steady him, and smiles smugly, saying, “Nah, think mine’s better off.” 

Calum’s heart beats faster at the way Liam refers to him as _mine,_ face blushing involuntarily, hoping it can be played off as a result of the alcohol. Neither of them notice though, there’s a weird energy in the room, the two of them looking at each other rather intensely, Harry sipping on his drink but never taking his eyes away from Liam’s. 

The tension doesn’t break until Michael and Luke come over, giggling at each other’s sides, arms slung around each other for balance, Luke reaching out for Calum, nearly shouting, “Calum! Ca _lum_!” 

He gets distracted by the cup in Calum’s hand, shoving his off to Michael and grabbing at Calum’s, peering into its depths asking enthusiastically, “What’re you drinking? Is it the punch? The punch is good, Calum. You should have the punch.”

Luke’s cheeks are flushed even pinker, now, eyes sparkling, and Calum can’t stop laughing, breathing sharply, stumbling over his words, “Luke you’re soo drunk.” 

Luke’s hand finds Calum’s wrist, pulling him forward, saying through a stream of laughter, “Look who’s talking.” 

He’s out of Michael’s grip now, wrapping his arm around Calum’s and pulling him along, calling back for Michael to join them, saying in an overly stern voice, “Come on, there’s a couch full of people we haven’t talked to. We’re supposed to be making _impressions_.” 

The three of them stumble with each other toward the living room, Calum only looking back briefly to see Harry and Liam leaning into each other and talking closely. His stomach twists up in something like jealously but settles the minute Luke pulls him down onto the couch, landing haphazardly at his side, face flush against the crook of Luke’s neck for a moment too long. 

The next thing he knows Michael’s spreading out over his and Luke’s laps, batting his eyes up at Calum and saying something about avocados. He can’t make out what, or why it’s so funny, but he laughs until he can’t breathe, head spinning with it and he never wants this night to end. Doesn’t want to move from this couch with Luke, warm and comfortable pressed into the cushions with the weight of Michael on top of them. 

*  
He wakes up the next morning with a pounding headache, mouth cottony and gross, a warm body pressed against his side and a foot poking at his thigh. There’s a booming noise from somewhere above him and the body underneath him groans, Calum realizing after a moment that it’s Luke next to him and sighing at the familiarity of it all. 

He looks up to see Zayn and Harry standing over them, smiling down at them devilishly, Louis off to the corner talking into his megaphone once again, saying, “Up and at'em pledges. We’ve got a house to clean. Don’t think you can make such a mess and not suffer the consequences.” 

There’s a murmur of groans from across the house as the rest of the pledges wake up, most of them lying somewhere within the living room, a few peeking their heads out from the kitchen, all looking worse for wear. Calum rubs at his eyes, regretting having had anything else to drink after the around the world challenge, looking around and grimacing at the litter of cups scattered around the room. 

He gets up, bringing Michael and Luke up with him, all three groaning at the job they have to do. Michael mumbling reassuringly, “Remember boys, it’s all supposed to be worth it in the end.” 

It doesn’t take them long to finish up, not really. But it takes longer than Calum would like considering his head feels like it might burst and his body heavy. Luke looks just as bad as Calum, pale and clammy, but smiling at him from across the room as they clean; when they’ve finished the two of them walk back to their dorm with Michael, heads ducked, trying to shield their eyes from the sun. The three of them stumble up the stairs together and say goodbye to Michael at the second landing, Luke and Calum racing each other to their room. They laugh their way down the hall, Calum grabbing at Luke’s waist to try and slow him but just ends up dragging along behind him, Luke only laughing harder as they make it to the door and Calum presses in closer, nuzzling his nose against the back of his neck, saying into his skin, “You cheated.”

Luke pushes back against him, trying to shake him off as he goes through the door, shaking his head at Calum. They laugh their way into the room, not bothering to turn the lights on and clamoring right into their beds. Calum ruffles through his night stand for ibuprofen and throws it to Luke before turning into his pillow and falling asleep, not waking up again until fifteen minutes to five, feeling fresher than before. 

Luke’s already up, sitting at his desk with his leg curled up to his chest, taking notes at his computer with some textbook cracked open in front of him. Calum throws his pillow at Luke’s back, groaning, “Why didn’t you wake me up? It’s late.” 

Luke turns toward Calum, eyes a little puffy from having too much to drink the night before but ultimately endeared, laughing, “I did. You said ‘I’ll be up in fifteen minutes, swear.’ And it’s been two hours and you’re just now getting up.” 

“Oh god, sorry.”

Luke returns to his notes, saying over his shoulder, “I don’t mind. Needed to get started on these notes anyway. The quiet was nice.”

After a beat he says, turning around quick as Calum’s getting out of bed, finally stripping his clothes off from the night before, “Oh, also, we got an email from Liam. We’ve got a test at our meeting Thursday.”

Calum pauses on his way to take his pants off, rifling through his dresser for a clean shirt. “What’d Michael end up picking?”

“Full names, birthdates and zodiac signs,” Luke says with a sigh, “I can’t even remember my own zodiac sign half the time dunno how I’m gonna remember all theirs.”

Calum grabs his clothes and heads for the shower, smiling at Luke reassuringly as he goes. “It won’t be too, bad! We can quiz each other!” 

*

The week passes slowly, the two of them settling into life away from home as much as they can while trying to learn time management, the names of all their brothers and how to juggle having a meal plan with portion control. But it goes by nicely, Michael becoming an easy addition into their lives and spending a near constant amount of time in their dorm in his free time. He and Calum make flashcards with the information they need to know for Thursday and in their down time between classes they quiz each other and Luke.

By the time Thursday comes around Calum knows the names and birthdates of all the active members of Omicron Tau better than he does half his family. Luke’s still pale and worried when they walk into the house for the meeting that day but he’s like that every time before a test and has been for the last seven years Calum’s known him, so Calum’s not worried; Luke’s going to do well like he always does. 

It’s just Niall and Liam in the living room when they get there, sitting at the couch with a stack full of papers on the coffee table in front of them, looking at the boys expectantly as they all funnel in. Liam saying once they’re all gathered round, “Ready for this, guys?” 

There’s a murmur of noncommittal answers behind him and that’s apparently what Liam likes to hear; his face breaks into a breathtaking smile and it leaves Calum feeling anxious but not about the test ahead. The smile continues the entire time he’s passing out the tests and by the time Calum’s seated, knees knocking against Luke’s, he’s all but forgotten what he’s here for, not wanting to pay attention to anything but the way Liam’s looking at him intermittently while monitoring the rest of the pledges. 

It takes him longer than he would have expected to complete the worksheet because of that, having to concentrate extra hard on the names of the active and what exact their birth dates are. He completely blanks on Louis’ and it’s not until Luke’s finished his test and handed it in that he remembers _Louis William Tomlinson - December 24, 1991 - Capricorn_ , scrambling to write it down and not be the last one finished. 

After all the pledges are done Liam and Niall walk them through a more detailed history of the frat, Liam talking about how they’re known for doing the most charity and Niall interjecting with a smile to say, “And the most partying,” to which Liam smacks him on the arm, admonishing him, “This is supposed to be the serious meeting, Niall!”

Liam’s words don’t match his tone or his face. His eyes are soft and calm and he looks at Niall with so much fondness that it makes Calum’s stomach churn. Liam’s response is met with laughter from the pledges and Niall, who says, “I’m just here to keep you honest, Leemo.” 

Liam shakes his head, slightly exasperated, looking through the papers he’s gathered from the pledges with a small smile, pausing on a few with a crinkle in his brow. He looks back up at them, saying firmly, “This house is as much about partying and having a good time and making lasting forms of brotherhood as it about helping the community we come from. There’s a lot of community service involved and you have to maintain a 3.2 GPA but I don’t want that to steer you away because we really do have a good time.” 

He says it in such a calming tone that Calum isn’t even worried about doing community service or keeping his grades up or anything like that because Liam makes it sound like a piece of cake, makes it sound like every last bit of it will be enjoyable. And Calum thinks, that as long as Liam’s there, it will be. 

*

Calum soon finds out that being a pledge in a fraternity is as much about brotherhood and bonding as it is about doing whatever work the active brothers don’t want to do. In between their own classes, meetings on Thursdays and parties on the weekends, Calum, Luke and the rest of the pledges spend a lot of time at the beck and call of the rest of the brothers. 

The second Tuesday after Bid Day Calum gets a call at eight in the morning from Liam, voice thick with laughter, “Hey sorry to wake you but Harry and I need a favor. We’re kinda stuck.” 

It takes Calum too long to register what he’s said, asking around a yawn, careful not to wake Luke, “What? Where are you? ” 

Calum thinks he can hear Harry laughing somewhere near Liam and a muffled _you could have just called Niall_ clues Calum into this probably being a bit of hazing. He sits up and rubs at his eyes, looking over to see Luke stirring in his bed, as Liam says, “I’ll text you the address. Thanks again, Calum. See you in a few!” 

Calum pulls on a pair of jeans and finds his keys, startling a bit as Luke asks, rough with sleep, “Where’re you going?”

“Gotta do something for Liam and Harry up. Explain when I get back.”

Luke yawns, pushing off his comforter and saying, “I can come with you.” 

Calum shakes him off, smiling down at Luke, grateful for his thoughtfulness. “No, go back to sleep.” 

*  
It doesn’t take Calum long to get to them. They’re six blocks from campus, sitting on the side of the road, their knees pressed firm against each other, faces both hovering over a phone, with a black Range Rover parked at the curb. As Calum pulls to a stop behind it he sees Harry get up, smile taking over his face and sticking out his thumb, pretending to be a hitch hiker. He says something and Liam starts laughing, eyes crinkling up at the edges and Calum’s stomach flips, suddenly jealous. 

Liam motions for him to roll down his window, walking up and leaning forward into the rolled down passenger seat window, saying, “You do have jumper cables right? Harry’s battery died.” 

Calum bites his lip, not wanting to ask _shouldn’t you have made sure of that before I came over here_ , instead answering, “Yes, yeah. Just give me a second to find them.” 

Harry’s rifling through the driver’s seat of his car as Calum gets out of his, looking over his shoulder to say, “Sorry, Calum. Liam didn’t wanna call Niall to meet us because we’ve just been to pick up his gift. You know, his birthday is on Saturday.” 

Calum should have known that. It hadn’t even been a week since he took the test on all their birthdays, but he hadn’t remembered at all. He’s curious as to what they got him that needed getting up so early, but he doesn’t ask. He just shuffles things around in his trunk looking for the jumper cables, hoping they’re actually still there, sighing in relief as he finds them under an old pair of tennis shoes. 

Once he’s got them, he pulls up in front of Harry’s Range Rover, his hood already lifted and hooks up the cables. It doesn’t take much time at all -- nothing like that time his battery had died the morning before his last final of high school and it had taken him and his sister fifteen minutes to figure out how to make it work. 

After, Liam claps his hands together, satisfied, smiling back at Calum appreciatively. “Thanks, man. Don’t forget about the meeting on Thursday. It’s gonna be a big one. We’re planning Niall’s birthday party!” 

And with that he and Harry get back into the car and drive off without another word, leaving Calum there, tired and a little dazed, wondering why exactly he wanted to be in a frat in the first place.

*  
Another Thursday comes and goes and Calum feels better about joining the fraternity again. He and Luke spend the meeting laughing into each other’s space about the way Niall keeps popping around the corner of the living room to try and see what the boys are planning in the kitchen for Saturday and the way Liam immediately rushes him out. He calls for Harry and Zayn to stand guard, setting the two of them up in chairs at the entrance, telling them sternly to keep him out. 

It works for a while. They get through half an hour of planning what food to get, what drinks to make and who to let in before there’s a loud commotion at the entrance and Calum turns around in his seat at the kitchen table to see Niall piled on top of Harry on the floor, a laughing Zayn watching over them. 

Liam rolls his eyes and gets up, smiling softly down at the two of them. “Niall, would it kill you to let us surprise you once?”

Niall looks up at Liam, rolling his eyes as Harry tries to bite at his collar, saying, “Would it kill you to plan the damn thing when I’m not around?” 

He pushes off of Harry, wrinkling his nose up at him, saying through a laugh, “And would it kill you not to be such a child? Biting, Harry, really? What kind of bouncer are you?”

He then turns to Zayn, eyes soft, “And you? Did you even try and stop me?” 

Zayn smiles up at him just as soft, shaking his head slightly, “Just here to keep Liam from having a breakdown in front of the pledges.” 

“Hey!” Liam says sharply, causing the three of them to laugh in unison. Harry finally pushes up from the ground and pats Liam on the cheek, saying almost too quiet for Calum to hear, “You get too stressed about birthdays, Liam. You know Niall’s gonna love anything we put on. As long as we’re all here.” 

Niall pretends to be offended, flinging himself back in the chair Harry had been in, hand over heart, saying, “You wound me, Styles. I will have you know I am very hard to please. I expect only the best from this party!”

It’s odd to watch. The four of them bickering back and forth like they’ve known each other all their lives and Calum wonders if that’s something that all the brothers have or if it’s just these, wonders if this is what he has to look forward to in the years to come. Hoping that he and Luke will make it through the process and gain more friends like the ones Liam seems to have with the boys around him. 

Luke nudges at his shoulder, whispering for him to move, nodding toward the boys around him filing out of the kitchen. Luke smiles at Calum’s confusion, saying quietly for no one but Calum, “I see you got too distracted by Liam and didn’t hear him call an end to the meeting. And you said you didn’t have a crush.” 

Luke’s lips are tight around the corners as he says the word crush and it makes Calum’s stomach turn curiously, wondering what that’s all about, but too afraid to ask. Instead, Calum shakes it off and gets up to find Michael, trying not to wonder if Luke had seen the blush creeping up his skin at the mention of having a crush on Liam. 

*

Saturday is so busy Calum doesn’t know how he’ll make it to the party itself. Liam and Harry have him and Michael running around all morning picking up snacks and mixers but the most tedious part is finding the party poppers. Harry had specified that he wanted the ones that shoot confetti -- not the ones that shoot streamers -- and they have to drive to three different Party Cities to find them. Michael thinks they could have gotten anything and they wouldn’t have noticed but Calum doesn’t want to risk it. 

Michael starts to pout by the time they make it to the third store and Calum just shakes his head and says, “Nah, I’m pretty sure I heard Louis complimenting Harry on his choice because this would be harder for us to clean up later. They’ll definitely notice.” 

Michael sighs heavily. He fidgets with his seatbelt and mumbles, “Why didn’t you bring Luke with you to do this?”

Calum grips the basket he’s carrying around with him a little tighter, knuckles going nearly white. Michael’s eyes dart from Calum’s fingers to his face in quick succession before Calum finds his words, trying to ease the tension out that’s built up around the two of them. He laughs, saying finally, “Luke’s never been one to shop.”

That’s not exactly true. But Michael doesn’t know that yet. He just squints his eyes momentarily before scratching his neck, sighing loud and exaggeratedly, “I wish he were, though. I’m bored.” 

Calum breathes easier but his heart is still beating uncomfortably at his own reaction, knowing that under any other circumstance Luke would be here with him. But right now something’s off and he can’t put his finger on what exactly it is. 

*

Whatever it is that has Luke avoiding Calum is long forgotten by the time the party comes around, though. They’re both two drinks in when Michael pulls them toward him, almost knocking their heads together in the process, asking loudly, “Alright, boys?”

There’s a hint of concern in Michael’s voice that has Calum blinking quickly but Luke just laughs, pushes out of his arm, takes Calum’s hand and drags him toward the kitchen, saying back to Michael, “‘Course. But I’d be better with another drink.” 

Michael looks back at Calum curiously and Calum just shrugs, laughs it off as he quickly steps past the both of them, calling back, “Luke’s always got the bright ideas.”

It makes Luke beam in a way that Calum hadn’t quite realized had been missing the last few days and it makes Calum’s stomach flip happily and as the night progresses it only grows steadily bigger. 

Right before midnight there’s a loud sound from the living room and then a roar of laughter that has Calum stumbling toward the entryway to investigate, Michael and Luke crowding up right behind him, the three of them laughing too when they see what caused the disturbance. 

Niall’s in the middle of the room with a mound of confetti in his hair and Harry, Liam, Louis and Zayn crowding around him. He’s laughing, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. He’s actively trying to bat them all away but they just start in with a rowdy rendition of _Happy Birthday_ ending with Harry giving Niall a sloppy kiss on the forehead and then the four of them ruffling his hair. There’s other brothers watching, signing along, but Calum is in awe of the way the five of them seem to operate as if they’re in a world of their own. As if it’s just the five of them there celebrating Niall’s birthday. It’s mesmerizing. 

Luke whispers against Calum’s neck for him to move, pushing him forward and the two of them nearly trip into the living room, grasping onto each other to keep their balance, Michael laughing behind the two of them. They almost knock over a boy with dirty blond hair in their attempt to make it to the couch and end up tripping over each other in their final steps, landing in a haphazard mess of limbs, Michael kneeing Calum in the stomach. 

“Michael, move.” 

Michael wiggles his knee, laughing as he does and asks, “That better?”

Calum pushes him off and Luke falls closer, causing him to smile brighter again, and Calum laughs, looking down at where Michael’s pouting on the floor, “Now, it’s better.” 

Michael’s about to say something but he’s cut off by Liam’s voice behind them. Calum and Luke straighten up, or they do to the best of their ability to, and Calum leans his head back against the couch to look up at Liam, vision blurring a bit around the edges with the way his head is tilted back. 

Liam smiles down at him and it makes his heart beat faster. He tries to breathe evenly and not blush but the way Luke tenses up next to him as Liam stands there watching them makes him think he didn’t succeed. It takes him a second to register that Liam’s actually talking to him and once he realizes he flushes even deeper, sitting up and turning on the couch to answer.

“Yeah, I’m having a good time.” 

He hadn’t even realized how drunk he was until Liam started talking to him but now he feels like he can’t sit still, that his clothes are too tight on his body and that if he doesn’t move he might just melt into the couch with how much he wants to touch Liam’s smile. 

He gets up and regrets it immediately. He nearly trips over Michael’s ankle and Luke has to steady him by the wrist, pulling him back onto the couch and Liam laughs low behind him, saying, “Looks like you’re having a great time, Calum.” 

His voice is stern and commanding with his next words and Calum giggles uncontrollably at the way he nods toward Luke and Michael, saying with a smile, “Make sure he gets home safe, boys.” 

Luke’s hand tightens around Calum’s wrist and it takes him away from Liam for a moment, grounding him in a way and prompting him to breathe in for what feels like forever, covering his mouth at the way he can’t help but laugh as Luke answers almost defensively, “We will.” 

*

If things had been awkward between Luke and Calum before the party it is nothing compared to how they are after. Calum wakes up every morning and Luke’s either got his head buried in a book at his desk or he’s gone from their dorm entirely. At nights Luke goes to sleep before Calum, mumbling into his pillow about how he has an early morning tomorrow and Calum doesn’t push. Not until they’re at lunch with Michael and Luke can’t stop checking the time on his phone in between fidgeting with his hands. 

Michael glances at Luke’s hands and up at Calum curiously, raising his eyebrow in question and Calum tests the water, speaking directly to Luke in what feels like the first time in years, “Luke, everything alright?” 

Luke eyes snap away from his phone quickly, registering the concern on Calum’s face and his eyes soften briefly, before yawning, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve got this problem set due at the end of the week and I’m just--” he yawns again, this time so long his eyes water a little around the corners and Calum can’t take his eyes off the bluish black bags under Luke’s eyes. 

“Lukey, when was the last time you slept?”

Luke shakes his head and looks between Michael and Calum, scratching at the back of his head, “Last night.” 

“You stayed up later than me last night and woke up before me and I didn’t sleep that long! When was the last time you slept more than four hours at a time?” 

Luke looks a little frantic, almost as if he’s being interrogated and Calum back tracks, doesn’t want to make Luke look so worked up, saying, “Just worried about you is all. We could --” 

He stops short. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous -- it’s just Luke -- but asking him to spend time just the two of them after Luke’s done his best not to spend time with him in nearly two weeks seems like a big deal and he sighs deeply, feeling a little defeated but saying all the same, “If you’d like we could study like old times? You know how we did junior year for Mr. Creely’s final?” 

Luke’s eyes light up and he laughs, finally. “We didn’t get any studying done that time! All you did was throw candy at me when I tried to make flash cards!” 

Michael laughs next to him. Shaking his head at the image and Calum shrugs, smiling softly back at Luke, “Okay it won’t be anything like that. But I can keep you company. Make sure you take enough breaks if you get stressed. Besides I’ve got a paper due Friday I could use the focus.” 

Luke looks hesitant but he gives in eventually. He checks the time on his phone one last time before agreeing, “Alright. But no candy, Calum.” 

Calum thinks that’s a fair trade for Luke looking and _smiling_ at him again, no longer looking quite as strained while being in the same room as Calum. 

*  
Their time in the library goes far too smoothly for Calum’s liking. Luke sleeps a full eight hours the night before and then after their classes are both finished they meet on the third floor of the library. Luke apparently has a favorite spot where he spends a majority of his time when he’s not studying in the dorm. It’s a relatively small round table toward the back of the floor, tucked away behind a set of bookshelves that house a series of books about subjects apparently no one is interested in because in the two hours they’ve been here no one has come anywhere near them at all. 

Calum has only written one paragraph for his five page paper in the entire time they’ve been here and he’s ready for a break. But Luke’s got this look of concentration on his face and Calum knows it’s not the right time to interrupt, especially when they’ve only been back on talking terms for a day. 

He waits another ten minutes until Luke puts his pencil down to crack his knuckles and then he takes the opportunity that’s presented itself to move. He gets up out of his seat and looks down at Luke encouragingly, “Come on, Lukey. It’s time for a stretch. Just like we did in middle school on fucking stadardized test days.” 

Luke shakes his head, but he’s smiling and Calum knows he’ll give in. Calum grabs Luke’s wrist and pulls him up. Luke laughs and it makes Calum’s heart soar when he says, “You’re so fucking demanding sometimes.” 

“That I am. But you need a break and since I don’t have candy to throw at you I’ve got to make do.” 

Luke smiles, even if reluctantly, and Calum takes that as a good sign. He starts moving his arms ridiculously, waving them around like he’s trying to swim dramatically and Luke dissolves into laughter, breathing out, “What are you doing?” 

Calum keeps going, shaking out his legs and moving his hips closer to Luke and it’s not until Calum starts doing the chicken dance that Luke finally joins in. The two of them stand there, making their way through every ridiculous dance they did at middle school dances and the stretching exercises their teachers would put them through on state test days until Luke’s cheeks are flushed with laughter and Calum feels like he’s loosened up enough to work. 

The rest of the day is more productive than he thought it would be. Even if he spends the majority of it kicking Luke under the table just to hear him sigh in frustration before smiling and pushing at the back of Calum’s computer screen to make him stop. He only finishes three pages before Luke finishes his entire problem set but he doesn’t care. Not with the way Luke’s looking at him proudly at finally finishing his work. 

*  
They finish out the rest of the week in high spirits and the next week they have three house meetings in Harry’s attempt to plan the perfect first mixer. The majority of the meetings Calum and the rest of the pledges just sit and listen while the brothers vote on themes before Harry ultimately smiles and says that the theme will be _Fruit of the Loom_. 

Calum thinks that’s a curious theme until Thursday when Liam’s quizzing them on the favorite movie of each of the brothers and Louis and Zayn walk in with twin grins on their faces and Zayn carrying a large box in his hands. Liam quiets and looks up at Louis, asking cautiously, “What’s the look for, Lou? What have you two cooked up this time?” 

Louis just smiles as Zayn sets the box on the table where Liam’s sat, saying playfully, “You know it wouldn’t be an Omicron Tau first mixer without a bit of hazing.” 

Liam smiles widely, but looks at the pledges sympathetically and Calum’s stomach feels like it bottoms out. He looks over at Luke to see him smiling nervously and that calms Calum somehow because at least he’s not the only nervous one here.

Louis claps his hands together. “Now boys. I don’t think anyone’s told you what Harry means by “Fruit of the Loom” quite yet. So we’re here to eliminate that problem.” 

He tips over the box that Zayn had been carrying and out tumbles an assortment of brightly colored underwear. There’s a murmur of dissent that just makes Louis’s smile grow larger and he say, “Harry’s very picky about his themes but this one’s led to a wonderful opportunity. So pick your size and color and then come in them on Saturday.”

Calum doesn’t think it will be too bad but Luke’s sat beside him looking stricken so he just wraps his fingers around Luke’s knee and squeezes reassuringly, whispering to him, “It’ll be alright. Come on. Bet you’ll look good in those bright yellow ones.” 

Luke’s cheeks turn the deepest shade of red Calum’s ever seen and it takes him aback. Luke bites his lips and swats at Calum’s arm, voice oddly breathy, “Shut up. Only gonna wear ‘em if you do, too.” 

He looks at him and he’s smiling that smile he always does when they’re teasing but there’s a sincerity in his eyes that lets Calum know Luke needs Calum to do this with him, to look the exact same fool as him. 

Calum smiles warmly, “Alright. Yeah. But don’t go crying when I look better than you.” 

Luke’s smile grows wider and he bites at his lip, eyes twinkling down at Calum, “Wouldn’t think of it.” 

*

The pledges all arrived-- at Louis’ command -- thirty minutes into the mixer. Michael’s picked a bright red pair of underwear and has painted a red blotch over his chest with little green lines coming out that Calum assumes is supposed to be an apple, or maybe a strawberry looking at the size of it. Most of the other boys have gone with more subdued colors, or the most subdued they could find in their fruit colored pickings. There’s mostly greens and a few purples and then there’s Luke and Calum in the their bright yellow underwear bringing up the rear of the line. Luke’s standing behind Calum holding his hands awkwardly around his chest, skin flushing in places Calum’s never actually seen it flush and Calum’s equally amused and endeared. There’s no way Luke’s getting through this night without getting hammered. 

Calum takes his hand and squeezes it softly before they head inside, whispering back to him, “It’s gonna be fine Lukey. Just a laugh, y’know?” 

Luke mumbles something that sounds a lot like _maybe for you, you like to be naked_ but Michael’s opening the door and they’re entering the house and it gets lost in the sound of laughter and cat calls from their brothers, who are all dressed in their best blazers, belt buckles donned with an assortment of fruits -- little looms pinned to their lapels -- while the Zeta Theta girls -- who have come to the party dressed in these floral dresses garnished with beautifully crafted jewelry made up of their favorite fruits -- all cover their mouths, trying not to laugh.

Harry’s standing in the center of a throng of people as they enter, beaming, looking the most extravagant of all. He’s got a forest green blazer on with a bright yellow belt with bananas patterned on it and he’s topped it all off with his regular fedora now fashioned into somewhat of a loom that is exploding bananas and oranges from the top. It’s the most ridiculous thing Calum’s ever seen but somehow it looks endearing and majestic on Harry. 

His face falls when he registers what they’re wearing, or really, the lack of what they’re wearing, before finding Louis off to the side doubled over in laughter with Zayn. He makes a lot of intense gestures with his hands while he’s talking to Louis and he and Zayn both look mildly concerned but at the end Harry’s face splits into a wide grin, clapping Louis on the back and he turns to call the pledges over. 

He’s still smiling as they stop in front of him and his eyes trail up and down their forms. As he lands on Michael, with his painted on fruit tattoo his eyes absolutely light up. 

“Michael! Did you do this yourself?” He touches the corner of the fruit -- the more Calum looks at it the more he thinks it’s an apple-- and Michael nearly puffs out his chest with pride as he answers. 

“Yeah, it took me forever to get it right in the mirror. It’s a strawberry.” 

Calum leans over and whispers to Luke, “I could’ve sworn it was a fucking apple,” and Luke giggles into his hand as Harry goes on to compliment Michael’s efforts, his eyes only squinting in disbelief momentarily before saying, “I love it.” 

There is a moment of pause after in which Harry and Michael just stare at each other beaming and then Harry seems to notice Calum and Luke next to Michael and his eyes dart to the yellow fabric of their boxer briefs before leaning in to whisper, “Did you know bananas are my favorite fruit?” 

Calum nearly chokes trying to stifle his laughter and Luke’s arm tenses by his side and he can feel the heat radiating off his skin from where he knows Luke must be blushing and then Harry’s eyes go comically wide. Liam comes over and claps a hand around Harry’s shoulder as he starts fumbling with his words saying, “No, I didn’t. You’ve got a filthy mind there. I didn’t mean it like that.” 

He gestures at his hat and the pattern of his belt and says, “Honestly. Bananas are my favorite fruit.” 

Liam squeezes at Harry’s shoulder and chuckles low and comfortingly and Harry’s face softens and he leans into the touch, cheeks flushing from trying to explain himself, Liam saying to him, “You know your humor takes a little getting used to, Harry. Can’t blame them for thinking you might be trying to embarrass them.” 

Luke is still a little tense next to Calum but that could very well be because he’s been tense since they left their dorm and started walking to the house -- he’s never really liked having so little clothes on around so many people -- so Calum grabs Luke’s arm and nods at Harry and Liam. “You’re hat’s great, Harry. But if you don’t mind I think Lukey here needs to get a drink in him before he burns up.” 

Liam smiles at him sympathetically, eyes almost apologetic and Harry smiles widely, calling after the two of them as they walk off, “You both look great. Luke, yellow really suits you!” 

Luke shivers beneath Calum’s palm, skin quickly covering in goosebumps and Calum can’t help but laugh at how responsive Luke’s always been to compliments, no matter who they’re coming from and by the time Calum hands Luke his first drink he thinks he may just have to hand him three more he looks so nervous. 

“Luke, what’s the matter?”

He has a very large clue what’s the matter but he likes to let Luke think that he’s not completely transparent to him all the time and Luke smiles because of it, saying in a hushed tone, “You know very well what’s the matter.” 

His voice starts to pitch up higher as he finishes, “I look like a fool and it’s fucking cold in here, and there are people,” he gestures around the room and his eyes look a little wild, drink almost spilling from the cup in his hand as he does, “everywhere. Fully clothed. Staring at us.”

He’s pouting around his words, eyes fixed on Calum again, trying not to look at anyone around him and Calum takes a sip of his drink nodding for Luke to do the same. After Luke does, Calum smiles and says softly, “Luke, you’re going to finish that drink and you’re going to put on that winning smile of yours and then we are going to go woo as many people as we can.”

Luke’s pout fades a little, replaced by the faintest of smiles at the corners of his mouth as he asks, “Woo them? Who are we wooing?” 

Calum shrugs, chugging the rest of his drink and setting it down at the counter next to him, “Anyone we can, really. We’re two very charming people. We should be utilizing that in a time like this. Make people remember us for something other than the fact that we’re only wearing underwear to our first mixer.”

It seems to calm Luke a little and he finishes his drink and grabs another before heading back out into the living room with Calum. They find Michael standing in the same spot toward the center of the room with Harry, talking animatedly about something, and Liam is sat in a chair watching them carefully with a very bubbly Niall sat on his lap yelling across the room at a boy named Ashton to _turn the fucking music up, already!_ and Calum’s stomach does a familiar twist at the sight. 

*

There’s so many people at the party but all Calum can look at the entire night is Liam. He watches from his peripheral as Liam talks with the girls from Zeta Theta. He watches as Liam makes his way to talk to Louis and Zayn and the way his mouth turns up in the mischievous smile when he jabs his thumb over in the direction of one of the pledges blushing as he talks to a girl by the staircase. It makes his heart hammer and feel like it might pound clean out of his chest when Liam looks over at where he’s sat in a chair by the coffee table, fourth drink in his hand and a drunk Luke resting his head up against his knees as he talks to that boy Ashton from before, saying something about toucans and Froot Loops. 

It takes Liam what seems like forever to finish talking with Zayn and Louis and make his way over to someone new and Calum is pleasantly surprised that Liam comes and stops in front of the three of them, smiling down at Ashton -- who’s looking on in amusement as Luke rambles on about penguins and how they’re not actually found in the North Pole at all. 

He clears his throat and Luke stops abruptly, turning his head up to look at Liam and his face falls briefly before it lights up again, saying animatedly, “Did you know penguins are only naturally found in the southern hemisphere? So like, Santa couldn’t have penguins chilling in the North Pole.”

Ashton laughs louder beside him and Luke giggles, too, causing Calum’s knee to shake with it, and Calum tenses up just the slightest, ready to step in and defend Luke’s thing for penguins if someone starts to tease, but no one does. Liam just laughs belatedly with them, looking a little confused but all together amused at Luke’s drunken rambling and then he turns his eyes toward Calum and asks, “Are you having a good time? Not too bothered by Louis’S choice of attire?” 

Calum shrugs but is interrupted by Luke’s voice slurring out, “It’s pretty awful but Calum loves being naked so he’s absolutely beaming tonight.” 

Calum smacks Luke on the head playfully, feigning his voice in offense, “Hey now!”  
Luke leans his head further back, looking up at Calum and smiling playfully, “Don’t pretend you don’t, Calum!” 

Liam’s looking between the two of them curiously, intrigued and Calum tries not to blush thinking about Liam seeing him fully naked and hopes his mind will stop wandering that way eventually and concedes, “Yeah, I do like it a little.” 

Liam considers Calum for a moment and then he smiles, eyes crinkling up in the way Calum’s already terribly fond of and he says, laughing, “You’d get along great with Harry. He loves being naked. Took a bit of getting used to but now it’s like second nature.” 

He looks so fond that Calum’s stomach twists again and he fidgets under Luke’s head, suddenly very aware of how much skin Liam’s seeing and he tries to pull Luke up, saying in his ear, “Come here, ‘m cold.” 

Luke is completely pliant under Calums touch, he stumbles up into the chair with Calum and tries to squish in the small amount of space to the right of him but Calum doesn’t want that. He tugs him onto his lap and Luke sighs as he settles, taking another sip of his drink and turning back to smile up at Liam. “Did you know I love penguins?” 

Any tension that Calum had been building up in his head around the three of them is gone, he’s laughing under Luke and smiling up at Liam, saying a little exasperatedly, “He’s got a huge stuffed penguin that he sleeps with.” 

Ashton speaks up again, asking, “Really? That’s cute.” 

Calum can’t tell if he’s teasing or not but his arms find their way to Luke’s waist and squeeze reassuringly anyway and Luke shakes his head, smiling softly, saying with some sort of pride, “Yeah, Calum won it for me at the County Fair in eighth grade. I’ve had it ever since.” 

Calum squeezes tighter around Luke’s waist at the reminder and Liam’s eyes snap toward the motion, eyes clouding over momentarily and lips thinning out into a line before smiling and scratching at his neck and nodding toward someone over Calum’s shoulder. He laughs again, not as warm as before, and it makes Calum squirm underneath Luke, wanting to hear Liam’s real laugh again, but he doesn’t say anything. Liam just nods at them and smiles, “You two kinda remind me of me and Niall,” before walking off toward whoever he had nodded at before.

Calum doesn’t know if it’s just because he’s drunk and has a bit of a crush but he thinks maybe Liam might have sounded a little sad but he doesn’t have time to contemplate it further because Ashton soon has a lap full of a drunk Michael and is squirming uncomfortably under him, swearing under his breath, “Fucking hell, Michael. Get off me! We’ve talked about this!” 

Luke laughs hard and sinks back against Calum, resting his cheek against Calum and saying into his skin “Hey, you’re warm.” 

Calum’s distracted by the way Ashton’s trying to wrestle Michael off him and doesn’t hear him at first but Luke says it again, a little more insistently, “Heyyy. You’re _warm_.”

“Seems like you served your purpose.”

Luke shakes his head, jostling Calum a little, still insistent, “No. You’ve been warm this whole time.” 

Calum catches on, smiling and nudging at Luke playfully, “Oh, I was just…” 

He doesn’t know how to admit it without making it sound like this thing he’s got for Liam is something serious so he settles on saying quietly,“Just wanted a cuddle, Lukey.”

That appears to be what Luke wants to hear and his smile is so radiant that Calum feels bad for lying, swallowing roughly and asking Luke if he wants another drink, needing to get up and move as soon as possible. 

Luke lets him up and then settles back into the chair, nodding up at Calum a little dopily and swinging his legs over the side of the chair and making himself comfortable. Calum doesn’t ask Michael or Ashton and that just makes them both yell after him in objection but he just waves them off. He runs into Niall on his way to the kitchen and nearly knocks him over but Niall just laughs, grabbing onto Calum’s arms for balance and saying enthusiastically, “You’re nearly as clumsy as Harry when he’s smashed, bro. Or well, any time actually. Harry’s just fucking clumsy.”

“Liam talks about Harry a lot.” 

Niall blinks a few times, face schooled into something reserved, and turning back into the kitchen. He grabs for Calum to follow him and says, “Yeah. They’re like.” 

He pauses for a long time and pours himself a new drink and Calum busies himself doing the same for him and Luke before Niall speaks again. “They just hit it off when we all rushed.”

Calum’s just drunk enough to think that’s a sufficient answer and Niall smiles and claps him on the back before heading to the opposite corner of the kitchen as Calum makes his way back to the living room. He finds Luke passed out in the chair and Michael and Ashton threading flowers and little apple hair pins through his hair. 

“Where did you even _get_ flowers from?”

But then he sees the potted plant at the edge of the end table with its missing flowers and Calum just shakes his head, setting the drinks down and shaking Luke awake, pulling out flowers as he does, “Come on, Lukey, think it’s time to get you home.” 

Ashton and Michael both sigh disappointedly, Michael mumbling about how they were just trying to make him fit in more with the theme and Luke just smiles up at him softly, eyes puffy from drinking and his small amount of sleep, and it takes Calum a few more tries to get him up but once he does Luke goes easily.

They make it out the door with only a few bumbles along the way and the night air is thick and sticky on their skin and Luke presses closer to his side, mumbling, “Thanks for walking me home.” 

Calum can’t find any words to say. He’s caught up in the feel of Luke pressed up against his side and how they stumble down the street together laughing as flowers fall out of Luke’s hair and onto the sidewalk; so he settles on humming in response because Luke of all people knows what he means even if he doesn’t say anything at all.

*  
The next week passes in a haze of Luke trying to get Calum and Michael to stay focused on studying for their upcoming midterms and anticipation for the Big/Little Reveal at the end of week. Luke and Michael don’t seem to mind who they might potentially get but Calum can’t stop thinking about the idea of getting Liam for his. In the back of his mind Calum knows it’s not a good idea to want Liam to be his Big Brother but there’s no use in denying that he wouldn’t be thrilled for it to happen. 

He tries not to get hung up on it though, knowing that his chance of getting Liam are the same as getting anyone else, if not slimmer. He’s heard the Big Brother is usually only a year older than their Little, so he won’t become hopeful just to have them crushed. 

Saturday, Calum wakes up to the sounds of his phone vibrating on his desk, Luke’s doing the same shortly after, and he can’t seem to blink the sleep out of his eyes quickly enough. It happens twice more before he gets to his phone, yawning defeatedly as his phone shows three messages from Liam and the time at the top reads _8:37AM_. He swipes the first message open and reads: 

**Today 8:36 AM**  
 _Morning gentlemen!!!!_

_Today’s the day. Few last minute tasks posted on your doors. You have until 8:00._

_Good luck!_

He lets out a small groan and thinks about waking Luke up before looking at the tasks but Luke looks so soft and content with his hair swooping down in his face that he thinks better of it, deciding to let him sleep for at least a moment longer. He opens the door and finds two bright yellow pieces of paper taped right below the peephole, one with Calums name, the other with Luke’s. He picks them both up and then reads his:

1\. eat a can of sardines (video footage needed)  
2\. take a dip in the quad’s fountain (picture needed)  
3\. steal something from the dean’s office (bring the item tonight)  
4\. come dressed in khakis, a dark gray blazer and green tie  
5\. don’t be late!

Luke’s says the same thing and ten minutes later Michael comes barging in his room, faded green hair sticking every which way, eyes bleary like he just woke up and he’s brandishing a similar piece of yellow paper in Calum’s face. 

“Sardines?! Calum. That’s disgusting. What the _fuck_?”

Calum barely has time to shush Michael before there’s a rustling from Luke’s bed, his voice thick and scratchy with sleep as he rubs at his eyes, asking, “What’re you two on about this early in the morning?”

Calum’s waving his hand, trying to tell Luke it’s nothing -- to just go back to sleep for a little bit. But Michael just walks over to his bed and thrusts the yellow slip of paper in Luke’s face, pointing to the first item on the list, saying frantically, “They want us to eat a can of sardines. A WHOLE CAN! And we can’t even fake like we just ate one by taking a picture because they want _a video of it_.”

Luke pushes himself up, settling with his back against the bed frame, covers resting loosely on his chest, tucked up under his armpits. He should look just as soft as ever, just as content as he had fifteen minutes ago but his eyes go uncharacteristically wide as he reads the paper and he looks back at Calum, mouth agape.

“Steal something from the Dean of Admissions’ office? How exactly are we supposed to do that without getting in trouble?!”

Michael grabs the paper back, reading over it quickly and then muttering to himself, “Fuck. I didn’t even see that part.” 

They both look at Calum expectantly and it makes him feel edgy, scratching at the back of his neck, sighing roughly, “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that! I didn’t make the tasks!” 

Michael smiles, face lighting up with an edge of mischief, “Well, at least it’ll be an adventure.” 

He shrugs his shoulders and claps Luke on the shoulder, face softening at the way Luke still looks frantic, “And we have all day to do it!” 

That doesn’t seem to quell Luke’s anxieties, he just pulls his covers up higher on his chest and juts his lip out ridiculously, pouting back at Calum.

Calum shakes his head, knowing this is what Luke does every time he wants to get out of something, and it usually works. Calum usually crumbles right under the weight of that pout but Calum doesn’t want to do this without Luke and he doesn’t know what will happen in terms of continuing with the pledge process if Luke doesn’t complete the tasks, so he just shakes his head. Walks over to Luke’s bed and ruffles his hair, saying softly against the shell of his ear so Michael can’t hear, “Come on Lukey, I can’t do this frat thing without you.”

Luke pushes himself down, kicking Michael off of the bed as he goes and pulls his pillow over his face and groans loudly, looking back up at Calum smiling reluctantly, “I should really hate you, Calum.” 

“But you could never.” 

Luke’s smile falters for a brief moment before it encompasses his face, eyes twinkling as he laughs. He shakes his head and agrees, “Yeah, you’re right.” 

*

They go shopping first. None of them have cans of sardines lying around and while Michael had khakis and a blazer for rush week he didn’t have a dark gray blazer or a green tie. He mumbles the whole way to the outlet mall in in the backseat, “Why do we need a _dark gray_ blazer why can’t I just wear a blue one. I have a blue one!”

It makes Luke smile in the front seat and turn back to him, saying teasingly, “But at least the green tie will match your hair.”

Calum can’t see, but he would assume by the pinched lilt of Michael’s voice that he’s rolling his eyes, saying, “Shut up. I bought that blazer just for the fucking thing. And now I gotta buy another one! I’m not made of money here!” 

It sets them all off laughing, Luke leaning back in his seat and slapping Calum lightly on the chest, “You can buy me a blazer. It can be your Christmas gift to me for the next four years.” 

Calum pulls into the parking lot and glances over at Luke, mouth set wide in the way it alway is when he’s laughing full bodies and Calum almost agrees but then Michael chimes in with, “No, no, no. If he’s buying anyone anything it’s me. To make up for all the Christmases I’ve missed with you two.” 

Calum parks, shakes his head and rolls his eyes, huffing out a laugh, “Not gonna happen, Michael.” 

Then he looks at Luke, whose eyes are still lit up with the laughter that’s subsided and says softly, “Not gonna happen for you either, Lukey.” 

His face doesn’t fall, and his eyes don’t lose their brightness but his mouth forms in a thin line as he unbuckles his seatbelt and he shakes his head softly, “You’ll just have to make it up to me one day.” 

*

It takes them an hour to find blazers that fit them all and are at least somewhat in their price range. Luke reasons that they’ll probably use them for the rest of their stay in the frat -- or at least until they wear out-- so spending money isn’t that bad but when Michael checks out at the end of their trip with a green tie and a new blazer, no khakis needed, for just under $200 Calum can’t help but feel a little pouty that no one warned him to come to college with a pair of khakis of his own. 

Luke protests as Calum slips Luke’s tie into his pile of clothes, saying hurriedly, “No, I was just kidding, Cal. You don’t have to do that. I’ve got it.” 

Calum shakes him off, smiling widely, “It’s the least I could do. You didn’t wanna join the frat anyway. And I wanted you to.. so..” 

He waves his hand around searching for the right words as the cashier rings him up, his total coming up just over $300 and Luke takes his wallet out, rummaging for cash, saying aggravatedly, “Come on, let me pay for the tie.” 

Calum takes the bags from the cashier and smiles at Luke brightly, “Not a chance, Lukey.” 

Luke pays for his khakis and his blazer, face scrunched up in dissatisfaction, grumbling, “Fine. But I’m buying the fucking sardines.” 

Michael groans against Calum, where he’s resting his chin on Calum’s shoulder, “Ugck. I nearly forgot about the sardines.” 

*

The sardines are gross. They’re slimy and disgusting smelling and the three of them laugh the entire way through filming each other eating them. Michael complains about it for fifteen minutes before and the entire way through, plugging his nose and swallowing them one at a time, too grossed out to chew them. He goes back to his room to brush his teeth, swearing under his breath that no frat is worth eating sardines for and that his Big Brother better not have had anything to do with this. 

After lunch they head for the Dean’s office. Hoping that since it’s Saturday no one will be there and they’ll be able to sneak their way in somehow. The door isn’t locked which should have been their first sign that someone would be in the building but none of them expected the receptionist to be sitting at her desk, typing furiously, mouth set in concentration. 

Luke shrinks back behind the door, grabbing at Calum and Michael to follow, saying hushed, “Guess we can’t go stealing things now. Someone’s in there!” 

Michael’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I don’t? It’s Saturday! No one should even be here. Why is she working on a Saturday?” 

Calum shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe she forgot to send out...I don’t actually know what a receptionist for the Dean would do. Like, send out emails? Invitations to University parties maybe?”

He shakes his head furiously. “That’s not the point! We have to figure something out. We can’t just show up tonight with _nothing_.”

Luke bites his lip and licks at his lip ring, thinking, finally saying after a moment, “Maybe we could just… ask her for a piece of paper?”

Michael claps his hand over his mouth trying not to bring attention to the three of them with the sound of his laugh. He sobers quick enough, eyes lit up at the apparent absurdity of Luke’s suggestion, saying exasperatedly, “Just ask for a piece of paper. That’s too easy. No fun at all.”

Luke tenses up, looking at his feet dejectedly, saying quietly, “It was just a suggestion.”

Calum’s eyes sharpen and he looks at Michael quickly, swatting at his arm, “Hey. You have a better idea?” 

When Michael doesn’t say anything Calum just sighs, resigned, “Didn’t think so. Luke’s idea it is.” 

He looks between the two of them, smiling devilishly at Michael, “You can try first since you were such an asshole about it. Let’s see how easy it actually is.” 

Michael squares his shoulders and smiles firmly, raises his eyebrows at the two of them and then heads into the office. He comes back out two minutes later kicking at the ground and swearing, looking at Luke feebly. “Sorry, Luke. Wasn’t as easy as I thought.” 

Luke’s mood brightens with that news, before Calum asks, “No luck at all?”

Michael pulls a paper clip out of his pocket, shrugging, “Just this. But that could be from anywhere.” 

Calum sighs. “My turn, then. Maybe I can get a business card?”

 

He walks in, hands behind his back and his best innocent face plastered on and hopes that he can get something more than a paperclip from the office. The receptionist looks up from her computer screen, rolls her eyes and sighs. 

“If you’re here to finish what that boy with the green hair started then just quit while you’re ahead kid. I’m not giving you anything from the Dean’s office.” 

Calum splutters, caught off guard by the fact that Michael told her the truth, trying in vain to come up with something to say to play off his spluttering and make it seem like he’s not here on some mission from a frat to steal something. 

She looks at him impatiently, mouth pressed in a firm line that is truly terrifying and Calum cowers, asking quickly, “Can I just grab a business card?” 

She nods curtly, saying icily, “If you just _leave_ and let me work, yes.” 

Calum grabs two business cards quickly and rushes back through the door, finding Luke and Michael sitting on a bench arguing about whether or not they’ll get kicked out of the frat for bringing such boring items as proof tonight.

He flicks the business card at Luke, saying excitedly, “Got you one, too. Now let’s go. I think if one more of us goes in there she’ll call security.” 

They hurry out of the building, Calum slapping Michael on the back as they go, laughing, “You idiot! You didn’t have to tell her we were here with a mission from a frat!”

Luke laughs hysterically as they slow down just past the building, doubling over with his laughter as Michael says, “Hey! I thought it would help the cause! Honesty usually works wonders.” 

They walk in silence save for the quiet giggles of Luke the whole way to the quad. The campus is rather empty for a Saturday afternoon and that makes the three of them feel better about jumping into the fountain. 

The water isn’t that deep so they slip their shoes off and roll the hems of their jeans up, deciding to just take a picture of the three of them ankle deep in the fountain. The water is oddly warm and the bottom of the fountain is rough against Calum’s feet and he can’t help but rush Michael with taking the picture of the three of them. 

He smiles up at the camera and then Michael kicks water at him, smiling as he scurries away through the water with his phone in hand, laughing ridiculously. 

Calum chases after him and splashes water up the back of his leg and doesn’t listen as Luke calls from behind them, “Guys, come on. We still have to get ready for tonight.”

Calum looks back to tell Luke to come play with them right as Michael comes up behind Luke, kicking water up at him, too. He smiles widely when Luke startles, breathing in sharply. He kicks water back, laughing at the way Michael almost trips on his own feet trying to get out of the way of the splash. 

They’re interrupted by a disgruntled security guard saying loudly over the sounds of their splashes and laughs, “Boy! You can’t be in there. You need to get out now!” 

They hurry out of the fountain, Luke apologizing profusely to the security guard, tripping over his feet as he gathers up his shoes and rushes after Calum and Michael who are waiting for him at the end of the quad, laughing at the way Luke’s face has gone a little ashen with the fear of being in trouble. 

“Come on, Lukey, don’t look so sickly.”

Luke settles into the grass and slips his shoes on, lacing them up slowly before looking back at Calum and saying, “Shut up. I don’t look sickly.” 

Calum doesn’t believe him, looking down at him amusedly, and Luke sighs, wiping off the back of his jeans as he stands up, “Whatever.”

Calum kicks at Luke’s shoe softly, getting his attention, “Hey, at least we’re done now?”

Luke perks up at that and Michael claps them each on the back, “Come on. Let’s get back. Text all this shit to Liam and then I’m gonna take a nap before tonight. Wanna be rested up for if things get wild, y’know.”

*  
Calum and Luke leave Michael at the landing of the second floor, telling him they’ll meet him outside the dorm tonight, and they’ll walk to the house together. Calum feels fidgety the moment he steps into his room, the nerves of finding out who his Big Brother will be coming back full force the moment the tasks from before are no longer a concern. Luke doesn’t seem to share any of the same concerns, though. He settles in for a nap after changing out of his wet jeans and lifts his blanket up for Calum to join him, looking at him expectantly. 

Calum doesn’t particularly feel like napping but he can never say no when Luke looks at him like that. He changes out of his jeans and into a fresh pair of sweats and strips off his shirt, settling in next to Luke, whose face transforms into something soft and happy. Something that’s so often reserved just for Calum and it calms him down. Makes him feel easier, relaxed enough to close his eyes and rest his cheek against Luke’s pillow and rid his mind of any worry, focusing only on the steady rhythm of Luke’s breathing until he falls asleep himself.

He wakes up to Luke pushing softly at his shoulder and saying just as gently, “Get up, Cal. We’ve got an hour to get dressed and get over there. Do you need to shower?”

Calum rubs at his eyes, disoriented, eyes heavy with sleep, “Yeah. You go first. ‘M still tired.”

Luke shakes his head, laughing lightly, “And you say _I’m_ bad at getting up.”

“No, I never say you’re bad at getting up. Just that you’re grumpy in the morning,” Calum corrects. 

Luke walks to the shower, calling from the door as he starts the water, “But at least I’m functional!” 

Calum snuggles in closer to the pillow, breathing in the smell of Luke’s hair and sighing at how comforting it still is after all these years to be able to settle into Luke’s bed as if it’s his and feel right at ease. He gets out of the bed reluctantly, and searches through the closet for a clean button up to wear tonight, and jumps slightly when Luke presses a hand on his shoulder, leaning in around him to pull out his shirt, and saying curiously, “Cal, are you even paying attention today? It’s right in front of you.” 

He points to the white shirt hanging between two of Calum’s favorite flannels and pulls at the sleeve, making sure Calum registers that it’s there before pulling away. Calum shakes his head, laughing quietly at his own obliviousness and turns to see Luke slipping into his new khakis. He tucks in his shirt, smoothes out the front of his shirt and fidgets with his cuffs. 

Calum hands Luke the tie and watches on in amusement as he struggles to tie it, finally taking pity on him and tries to help him out. Luke swats his hand away, biting his lip in concentration, saying frustratedly, “I’ve got it. You still have to shower.” 

Calum comes out of the shower fifteen minutes later, knowing he needs to hurry if they’re going to make it on time, and finds Luke sat on his bed, toeing at the carpet dejectedly, tie hung loosely around his shoulders. 

“Couldn’t figure it out?”

“No, apparently not. It kept coming up short.” 

Calum dresses quickly, smoothing out his collar and adjusting his tie and then turns to Luke, pulling him up, “C’mere. Let me help you.” 

Luke pouts at how easily Calum ties the tie for him, only needing to try twice before it’s the perfect length. He pats Calum on the cheek roughly, smiling softly, though, “Thanks, man.” 

The two of them crowd around the full length mirror on the wall next to their closet and stare at themselves for a quick moment before Luke’s mouth turns up in a smile, “We look fucking ridiculous.” 

Calum shrugs, looking Luke’s reflection up and down before turning to him, smoothing out the shoulders of his blazer, “I think you look great.”

Luke’s cheeks flush slightly and he doesn’t look at Calum when he says, “Thanks. You clean up well too,” but Calum accepts the compliment all the same. 

* 

By the time they meet Michael outside the building Calum’s nerves have almost completely dissipated and he walks with a new found pep in his step at the anticipation of finding out who his Big Brother will be, still hoping slightly that it’ll be Liam. They arrive at the house with one minute to spare and Liam answers the door before they can turn the doorknob. 

He smiles at the three of them graciously as he asks, “Before you come in, do you have anything from the Dean’s office?”

Calum swears, patting his pockets for the business cards, feeling frantic with the idea that he forgot them and then Luke extends his hand, placing the two cards into the palm of Liam’s hand and Calum sighs in relief. Michael quickly hands over his paper clips and tries not to laugh at the confused face Liam makes. 

Calum goes to make an excuse but he’s cut off by Liam’s laughter, eyes crinkling up with the intensity of it, saying through breaths, “Jesus christ. You actually got something? No one else even tried when they saw the receptionist!” 

Luke’s mouth falls open in amazement, swatting at Michael’s arm, “I _told you_ it wouldn’t be a big deal if we didn’t get something _cool_!”

Liam gestures for them to come in, mouth still curled up in a smile. “‘Course not, we just like to see you work for it.” 

Liam ushers them into the living room where the rest of the pledges are standing around looking just as excited as Calum feels. Louis and Zayn are sitting together at the fireplace, leaning in toward each other and talking quietly amongst themselves. Harry and Niall are walking between the other pledges chatting to them as they go, the room tight with the rest of the brothers scattered around, waiting. 

Calum, Luke and Michael join the rest of the pledges while Liam settles in next to Louis and Zayn, clapping his hands together as Louis gives him a quick nod, in what Calum assumes is permission to begin. 

Liam clears his throat and Harry and Niall stop talking to the rest of the pledges and join the other three at the front of the living room, and looking back at the twelve pledges excitedly as Liam speaks. 

Liam gives another speech about brotherhood and bonding and Calum pays rapt attention. Listening to the way his words sound sincere and firm, as if he believes every word he says, and isn’t just telling a dozen boys that it’s important to form relationships in a fraternity because it gives people a sense of community for the sake of it.

Halfway through the speech Calum gets distracted by the way Harry’s looking at Luke, eyes glued to his face, unmoving in the way he’s staring and it makes Calum’s stomach flip uncomfortably. Liam claps his hands and it pulls Calum out of his thoughts and back to what Liam’s saying, blinking rapidly as he hears him say, “Now, if you’ll each come forward and grab a blindfold we’ll get this Reveal on the road!” 

Luke looks over at Calum quickly, eyebrows knitted together in apprehension, titling his head to the side, “Blindfolds? What did you get me into here, Cal?”

Michael pushes the two of them forward, laughing behind them, “It’s gonna be fun, Lukey, come on.” 

Liam helps blindfold each of them and then Harry shuffles them back toward the center of the living room. There’s a lot of movement around them, but nothing that Calum can see, and then everything quiets, stilling suddenly before Liam speaks again.

“Okay. So it’s all pretty simple. Just stick your hand in a bowl, pull out the letters of your Big’s name and then piece it all together to figure it out!”

Calum smiles to himself at the warmth and excitement in Liam’s voice, imagining the way his lips would be turned up in a smile, eyes crinkling slightly in mirth as he says excitedly, “Only tricky part is you’re blindfolded!” 

There’s an outburst of stifled laughter behind them as people start shuffling around as Louis starts talking, laughter coloring his voice, “Try your best not to make a mess of the carpet, boys! It’ll only be more work for yourselves.” 

Calum doesn’t understand until Louis tells them, “Go ahead, reach your hands forward and get at it!” 

It takes him a moment to locate the bowl but once he does he wishes he hadn’t. The outside is cool against his skin but the inside is full of a warm, wet, slimy substance that sticks to his hand like honey, the only thing that makes it enjoyable is the fact that he can hear Michael off to the side cursing, “Jesus Christ. First sardines, now this,” and Luke sucking in a sharp breath as he sticks his hand in the bowl. There’s laughter all around as they all reach in and pull out the letters and Calum tries to ignore the constant stream of shouting that’s coming from the brothers around them, causing the hair on Calums neck to prickle and his hands to shake. He sighs in frustration, trying to block out the noise and focus on the task at hand, feeling around the sticky letters as he tries to figure out what each one is.

The first he pulls out is either an _M_ or a _W_ and he racks his brain for every member in the house with those letters, silently telling himself not to get his hopes up about it being Liam, heartbeat quickening against his will when he pulls out the next letter that is very clearly an A. It’s not until he gets to the third and fourth letters that he starts thinking that he might have gotten his wish. He’s got slime under his fingernails but he’s clearly holding an _I_ and an _L_ in his hands and unless there’s a boy named William that he doesn’t remember he’s sure it must be Liam. He reaches back into the bowl, searching for another letter, smiling widely when he comes up with nothing. 

“Liam. Can I take this blindfold off now?” 

Liam’s voice is close and full of laughter. He reaches up behind Calum’s head and tugs the blindfold off and says, “See that wasn’t too bad.” 

Calum wipes his hand on the blindfold, scrunching up his nose at the way his fingers are stained a faint shade of green and looks over at Michael to his right, struggling to identify the letter _N_ , Ashton standing in front of him barely containing his laughter. Calum’s heart sinks, though, when he turns to his right and sees Harry and Luke chatting away. Harry has his hand on Luke’s shoulder, smiling widely as he says something about green making the blue of Luke’s eyes pop. Calum’s heart only sinks further at the way Luke’s cheeks flush a soft shade of pink at the compliment. 

Liam follows Calum's gaze, throwing his heart into overdrive the next moment as he leans in closer and says, “Usually, Bigs are just a year older than their Little. But Harry wants what he wants. And well…” Liam straightens up, leaning away from Calum and looking him up and down quickly, smiling, before finally settling on the words, “I think you’re very interesting, Calum.” 

Calum’s throat feels dry with Liam’s admission, his cheeks flushed and he can’t do anything but blink for a very long moment, which only increases the smile playing at Liam’s lips. It makes him forget all about the feeling in his stomach at seeing Harry talking so closely to Luke because all that matters right then and right now is that Liam is looking at him like he’s _interesting_ , like he’s worth bending the rules for and that makes Calum feel alive in a way nothing has before. 

Calum bites at his lip distractedly, fidgeting with the letters in his hands before carefully asking, “You think I’m interesting? Why’s that?”

Liam just shrugs his shoulder, eyes sparkling with the prospect of a well kept secret, saying softly, “I dunno. There’s just something about you, man.” 

Calum doesn’t know what that means but he like the sounds of it. He likes the way Liam stares at him softly, mouth slightly parted, eyes twinkling with the promise of good times to come. He likes the way Liam makes him feel, as if he’s not just some pledge, some Little, some added number to the sea of boys in Omicron Tua, but someone _interesting_. 

*  
Sunday, he wakes up hungover on the couch in the living room with a blanket draped over him and his shoes placed neatly at the side of the couch. His mouth feels like it’s full of cotton and his head is pounding. There’s nothing more he wants than a glass of cold water and a shower but there’s a hushed whimper coming from behind the couch that has him bolting up, curious. 

Luke’s curled up behind the couch, blazer tucked under his head as a pillow. He’s holding actual pillow close to his chest and is whispering softly in his sleep about math formulas and calculators. It brings Calum back to reality and reminds him that their first ever set of midterms start on Monday, and unlike Luke, he hasn’t done a single bit of studying. He rubs at his eyes and then presses the heels of his palms into his eyes firmly, trying to stave off panic. He folds the blanket and grabs his shoes, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water before waking up Luke to leave. 

He finds Liam sitting at the bar eating a bowl of cereal in nothing but a pair of loose, worn, sweatpants. He doesn’t mean to, but the slope of Liam’s back and the way his tan skin almost glows in the morning light coming in from the window has Calum sucking in a sharp breath. His cheeks flush instantly as Liam turns ever so slightly in his chair, lips tugging up in a warm, soft, smile. 

“Good morning.”

He doesn’t say anything about the way Calum’s standing there staring, shoes held limply at his side, but there’s a twinkle in Liam’s eyes that tells Calum he knows what stopped him in his tracks. 

Calum clears his throat, hoping the gruffness in his voice can be explained away by his hangover, not wanting to give away just how hopelessly attracted he is to Liam. “Good morning. I was just - I was just coming to get a glass of water. Mouth feels disgusting. And then I think - then I gotta go. Midterms. Studying. You know.”

He closes his eyes and wishes he could rewind time for just a few seconds, go back three minutes before he came into the kitchen. 

Liam laughs quietly to himself. “So you’re not just a drunk rambler? You just ramble in general.” 

He’s grinning at Calum, like he’s just told a winning joke and Calum doesn’t feel quite as embarrassed, not when it puts that look on Liam’s face. He scratches at the back of his neck and shrugs. “I guess so.” 

Liam’s smile never fades. He gets up and takes his bowl to the sink and then reaches up in the cabinet and grabs a glass, filling it up with water and walking it to Calum. “Here. I’m sure you’ll do fine on your midterms. Study a bit. Sleep a lot. Don’t over think it.” 

He claps Calum on the back and leaves, calling back as he goes, “If you need help studying, I hear that’s a thing Big Brothers are good for!” 

Calum can’t help but smile at the thought. Gulping the water down and wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand before calling back, “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind!” 

He sets the glass in the sink and turns around to see Luke stumbling into the kitchen, eyes red and bleary from sleep, yawning around his words, “Keep what in mind?” 

“Studying with Liam. He offered to help me study for midterms if I needed.” 

Luke’s face pales slightly and he shuffles his feet around nervously but Calum doesn't’ have a chance to say anything before Michael is bounding in the room, too energetic for how hungover Calum is, saying enthusiastically, “There’ll be no need for that, Cal. The three of us are gonna put our heads together and kick studying’s ass.” 

Luke rolls his eyes at Calum, smiling at Michael’s ridiculousness, shaking his head as he says, “ _I’ve_ been studying for the last week. I just need to review a little at this point.”

There’s a smug smile playing at Luke’s lips but his eyes are teasing and kind. Michael slaps at his stomach quickly and then pulls Luke toward the door. 

“Whatever, you say Lukey. You can keep us focused then,” he says, laughing as he looks back at Calum expectantly, “come on, Cal.”

*  
Luke holds true to Michael’s words, probably more so than Michael had intended, bringing them back to focus every time Michael starts to stray or Calum whines about wanting a break with a quick look and a teasing, _Do you want to fail?_ As he settles in for bed that night he’s got so many names and dates buzzing around in his head that he doesn’t see how he’s going to remember anything in the morning. 

The midterms go well, though. Or at least Calum thinks they do. Monday’s aren’t bad at all. Tuesday’s aren’t as easy, he has to rack his mind far too much to remember who painted what and in which year for his Art History exam but the one he has on Friday is a breeze and by the time he meets up with Michael and Luke in the cafeteria for lunch he’s ready to do something, anything, to celebrate. 

So when Michael laughs around his burger and looks at Calum and Luke with mischief in his eyes saying, “We should do something stupid to celebrate,” Calum jumps to say yes.

Michael doesn’t elaborate, he just fishes his phone out of his pocket and types out something quick, smile growing even more devilish as he does, and then sets it down, smiling at Luke widely and saying innocently as their phones start buzzing, “Don’t look so worried, Luke. I’m just planning a bonding experience for us and the rest of the pledges.” 

Calum pulls out his phone and opens the new message from Michael and smiles as he reads: _Post midterm celebration boys? Meet in front of Guinan tonight at nine._

Luke bristles as he reads it, shoulders stiffening and mouth going tight, “What are you planning, Michael?” 

“Nothing for you to worry your pretty little face about, Lukey. It’ll be fun.”

*  
Michael’s idea of fun is walking three blocks from the edge of school, skipping in the front while Calum, Luke and five other pledges that weren’t too tired to come along after a week of studying and test taking follow behind tiredly. Luke yawns next to Calum the whole way, fidgeting with the hem of his flannel and the brim of the snapback he’s got turned around backwards, eyes watery from lack of sleep. 

Brad and Nate --fraternal twins from Tennessee -- walk by quickly in an attempt to catch up with Michael, Joe --a tall gangly boy with glasses -- fast at his heels. They’re each talking excitedly at the prospect of what Michael has planned, and Luke shrinks away from them just as fast, running into Calum’s side. 

“You’re so jumpy when you’re tired, Lukey. You could have stayed home and gone to sleep if you wanted. Michael would have understood,” Calum says quietly, mouth tugging up in a fond smile at the way Luke rubs at his eye tiredly. 

“No, I wanted to.” 

Steve -- a freckly boy who lives in the building next to theirs-- turns around, gives Luke a piercing look and then says haughtily, “You could look like you want to, then.” 

Luke tenses up beside Calum and Calum bristles, a sharp _fuck off_ at the tip of his tongue, but Steve’s roommate, Max, turns and pulls him along, saying quickly, “Don’t be a fucking dick, Steve.” 

He turns back to the the two of them with an apologetic smile, stage whispering, “Steve thinks he’s failed his Bio midterm. He’s not usually this rude, you know that guys.” 

Steve gives him a sharp look, mumbling, “Max! Shut up!” and then the group comes to a stop. They’re at a seedy looking tattoo parlor, with bright neon signs in the windows. A large orange and green one illuminating the words _Bubba’s Tats_ and another one that seems to be fading in intensity indicating that they’re open. 

Steve stops short and Calum nearly runs into him as Max calls out to Michael, “You’re idea of bonding is getting tattoos from a place called _Bubba’s_?”

Michael grins more than Calum has ever seen him do before and Brad laughs nervously, “I am _not_ getting an Omicron tattoo, Michael. We’re not even initiated yet!”

There’s a murmuring of agreement from the other boys but Steve bounds through the group, meeting Michael at the door, saying excitedly as he enters, “This is sick, Mike. What’ll you get?” 

Michael follows him in, smile taking over his face as he looks back at the rest of the boys to follow and Luke pulls at Calum’s shirt to slow him, stopping him from following the rest of the boys in. He presses close against Calum’s back, saying soft against the shell of his ear, “What’re you gonna get, Cal? Finally getting that feather you’ve been talking about since we were sixteen?” 

Calum shivers slightly against the heat of Luke’s breath against his ear and the grip of his hand on his shoulder. He turns around, pushing open the door with his back, and grabs at Luke’s wrist to pull him forward, smiling sheepishly, “Think so.”

Luke’s cheeks dimple with his smile and he huffs out a laugh, “‘Course you are. Wouldn’t have expected anything else.” 

They shuffle their way into the small waiting room as a small, wiry man named Kurt with a mop of gray hair and a sleeve of colourful tattoos commands their attention by asking loudly, “Are you all getting work done?” 

The group of boys buzzes with consideration for a long moment before the man clears his throat, sucking at his teeth impatiently, “Anyone?” 

Michael steps forward, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he says, “Yeah, I’d like to get an anchor on my thumb and a X on my finger.” 

Calum pushes through the other boys, bumping into Michael in his excitement, brushing back the collar of his shirt and saying, “I wanna get a feather here.” 

Calum looks back at Luke, waiting for him to say what he’d like to get, too, but like the other boys he says nothing. Kurt takes Michael back in the studio, sitting him down in a chair and talking to him animatedly about what exactly Michael has in mind. 

A tall woman pushes through a black curtain behind the desk at the center of the waiting room, carrying a large book with her and Calum perks up as she walks toward him and hands it over, saying softly, “You should be able to find a feather you like in here, kid.” 

He takes the book and motions for Luke to sit with him, turning the pages slowly, trying to find something that catches his eyes. 

“Why aren’t you getting anything? You might find something you like in here?” 

He stops on a page of animals, a small doodle like penguin in the center of the page catching his attention and he smiles back at Luke, “How about this one, Lukey? Your favorite.” 

“No, no, no. I am not getting a tattoo.” 

“ _Luke_ I got my lip pierced with you for your birthday!” 

Luke’s eyes glisten with how hard he laughs, catching his breath and pushing at Calum’s shoulder, “Calum! That doesn’t count! You let it close up a month later!” 

Calum shrugs, turning the page and lingering on the set of feathers he sees done all over the page, face lighting up as he sees the one in the bottom left corner. It’s small and whispy in its details. It reminds him so much of the feather Luke had found on their way home from homecoming sophomore year, the one that had inspired the thought in the first place, and Calum knows this is the one. 

He taps at the page. “Found the one!” 

He turns slightly in his chair to face Luke, smirking, “Think you should reconsider it though, Lucas. I think you’d look quite nice with a little ink of your own.” 

“Not a chance, Cal, but thanks.” 

The way Luke still smiles wider and flushes faintly, after all these years, after Calum compliments him makes Calum’s heart soar. It only beats faster as Michael walks out, smiling from ear to ear, brandishing his hands out for everyone to see, and Kurt finally calls Calum back to start on his own tattoo. 

He casts a nervous look at Luke, who nods encouragingly and then he carries the book with him, keeping it firm against his chest, thumb tucked between the pages, marking his spot. Kurt ushers him into the chair, motioning for him to go ahead and take his shirt off and settle in, telling him that it’ll only be a moment before they begin. 

It takes less times than he expected. The gentle buzz of the machine is soothing and distracts him from the sharp pain of the needle on his skin and before he knows it, Kurt is leaning away from him and wiping away excess ink from Calum’s collarbone. He nods appreciatively at his work and then smiles at Calum, nodding, “You’re all done, kid.” 

He steps away from Calum and points to the corner of the room where a full length mirror stands near the bathroom and Calum doesn’t hesitate to look. He likes it so much more than he was expecting to. The black of the ink stark against his skin and the details of the feather are just as wispy and fun on his skin as they had been on the page and Calum couldn’t be happier. 

He snaps a picture and sends a quick text along with it to his sister before he shuffles into the lobby to show it to the rest of the boys. Everyone responds enthusiastically, Michael more so than anyone else. He claps Calum on the back, nearly buzzing with excitement, “It looks great, man.” 

But their reactions aren’t the ones Calum wants. He pushes through the rest of the boys to find the person he wants to hear from most. He finds Luke curled up in the chair, right where he had been before Calum had gone back, but now he’s curled up in the chair, head resting on his knees, eyes drooping shut. Calum thinks it’s better to let him sleep for a few more minutes while they finish up than to wake him and risk him being cranky but Luke just reaches out for Calum’s arm as he turns to walk away, pouting up at him, “What? You’ll show everyone else but not me? I’m offended.” 

“Shut up. I was trying to let you nap. I was being _nice_.” 

Luke stands up and rubs at his eyes as he yawns. He looks tired and a little pale from lack of sleep but then he smiles so widely that Calum forgets to worry. He brushes his thumb over the skin just below Calum’s tattoo and clucks his tongue appreciatively, “It looks nice.” 

The look Luke gives Calum sends a shiver up his spine and he can feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He clears his throat to say thank you, trying to keep the flutter out of his voice, but Michael saves him the trouble. He comes up behind Calum, grasping at his shoulders and asks excitedly, “Wasn’t this a great idea?” 

He gives them no time to answer before he pulls Calum away to get bandaged up and pay, saying over his shoulder, “This was such a great idea!”

*

It’s not until they’re back at the dorm --Luke fast asleep and Michael dozing off at the foot of Calum’s bed, too tired to walk up to his room after chatting Calum’s ear off about what other tattoos he think he’d like to get eventually -- that Calum realizes that he hadn’t sent the picture to his sister at all. 

He thumbs open the message and tries to stifle his whine as he reads the text from Liam: _Do you send all your new friends shirtless pictures or am I just special?_

Calum types back: _Shit. Sorry. I just got my first tattoo and meant to send that to my sister to show her!_ and then turns over and buries his face in his pillow, sucking in a small breath as the sheet press against the sore skin of his tattoo. He thinks he might just die of embarrassment, if that were possible, and hopes that he’ll wake up and this will all have been some awful dream. 

That is not the case, though. He wakes up to Michael and Luke laughing from Luke’s bed, huddled together over Luke’s laptop watching a movie together. There’s a brief twist of his stomach that makes him uncomfortable before his heart skips a beat and last night comes rushing back to him, remembering just what Liam had asked. He checks his phone hesitantly and finds two new messages from Liam. 

The first is from an hour after Calum had fallen asleep: _Nice ink :)_ and the second is from just ten minutes ago asking if he’s up for lunch. 

His stomach flips and he tries to refrain from responding too enthusiastically, lest he gives away just how much he likes Liam already, knowing this very well could be just another Big/Little bonding opportunity. 

* 

He meets Liam at one for lunch. The house is a buzz with noise. Louis and Zayn are on the couch yelling at each other over a game of Mario Kart with Ashton and Niall next to them on the loveseat, talking animatedly about a concert they had gone to the night before. Harry walks down the stairs as Calum shuts the door. He’s balancing a basket of laundry on his hip and shouting to someone upstairs, “I don’t know when I became your laundry service, Kevin, but it’d be nice to get a thank you now and then!” 

He sees Calum as he steps off the landing, turning to make his way to the laundry room, and leans his head to the side and motions toward the kitchen, “Liam’s in there. I’ve only ever seen him cook for two other people, Calum. So count yourself lucky.” 

It’s a friendly thing to say but the laugh he says it with doesn’t reach his eyes and there’s a sharpness to his words that leaves Calum nervous and uneasy. Niall catches his eyes as he passes through the room and the feeling is only heightened. Niall’s smile is weak and there’s something like concern in Niall’s eyes and Calum feels a little overwhelmed with his emotions before Niall beams at him, stopping his conversation with Ashton to say, “Leemo makes a mean grilled cheese. You’re in for a treat.” 

He finds Liam at the stove, an assortment of cheese and a stack of bread at his side. He looks over his shoulder as he hears Calum come in and gives Calum one of the warmest smiles he’s ever been on the receiving end of. 

“I didn’t know what kind of cheese you’d like. So I just kind of --” 

He trails off and motions toward the food on the counter, finishing with an afterthought, “Harry says a variety is always good. Better to have too many than too few, or something like that.” 

Calum has never met someone as thoughtful about grilled cheese in his entire life and something warm and fond bubbles up inside him. 

“I don’t really..like cheese? I mean. I like cheddar. And like, cheesesteaks and pizza. Pizza is my favorite. But I don’t really like cheese. Or just don’t, y’know, sit around and eat it by itself. I actually can’t remember the last time I had a grilled cheese sandwich.” 

By the time he stops speaking Liam’s facing him fully, face twisted up in an amused sort of way, eyes crinkling up with his smile and Calum flushes. “Shit. I’m rambling again. Sorry.” 

Liam waves his hand like it’s no big deal and pushes him toward the bar. “Well, I have cheddar. But I can make you something else if you’d like that better.” 

“No. No! Niall says you make a mean grilled cheese and I gotta see if it lives up to the hype.” 

Liam lets out a quick burst of laughter, head tilting back with the force of it. “Of course he did. I’m surprised he never got tired of them, though. That’s pretty much what we lived off of freshman year.” 

“Was he your roommate?” 

Liam doesn’t say anything for a moment while he turns the heat up on the stove and starts to butter the slices of bread, finally saying, voice laced with fondness, “No, Harry was. Niall lived down the hall and we’d always hole up in the kitchen upstairs to make dinner. It was the only thing I could manage, really.” 

He should comment on the food or how Niall and Liam cooked dinner together so often but all he could think about was how Harry was once Liam’s roommate, question heavy on his tongue and falling out before he can stop it, “Harry was your roommate? I assumed you met him through the frat? Niall said you two really hit it off rushing.” 

Liam places the first sandwich in the pan, the butter sizzling against the heat and the silence feels like it drags on much longer than it actually does, Liam saying after a beat, “Nope. We got paired up in one of those random roommate assignments or whatever. Mine and Niall’s request to room didn’t go through or something. But it all worked out in the end. Harry’s great and he ended up rushing, too. And yeah, I guess Niall’s right. We really hit it off that week.” 

The thought of Harry rooming with Liam for an entire year sends an unexpected gust of jealousy coursing through him and he sits there silently for a long moment while Liam finishes with the sandwiches, not sure he trusts himself not to say something stupid. 

Liam plates the sandwiches, grabs two bags of chips from the pantry and then sits next to Calum at the bar and waits for Calum to take his first bite. 

Calum’s prepared to pretend to like it even if it doesn’t taste good at all but Liam’s grilled cheese lives up to Niall’s hype. It’s perfectly golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted all the way through -- nothing like what happens when he tries to make his own -- and it reminds him so much of coming home after school when he was younger and his mom making him food while she asked about his day. 

“I take your silence as a testament to how talented of a cook I am.” He nudges Calum’s shoulder softly with his own, whispering, “Even if that’s not the case.” 

His eyes are bright and happy and Calum is a little bit breathless with the force of it all. They eat quietly, Liam occasionally knocking his knees against Calum’s gently and it feel like in no time at all that they’re finishing up and Harry’s barging in the kitchen in a flurry, asking rather loudly, “Liam, do you know where _Niall_ put my headscarves?”

He says Niall’s name with such intensity that Calum has a feeling this isn’t the first time this has happened. His notion is only confirmed a second later with the way Liam puts a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh, and Niall calls out from the other room, “I’m just trying to class you up a bit, Harry!”

“Says the boy who wore a snapback to a date just last weekend! Okay!”

He runs his hand through his hair, almost reflexively, and his expression softens when his eyes land on Liam. He smiles calmly. “So do you?”

Liam considers it for a moment, almost as if he wasn’t going to tell him, but caves eventually, saying with a shrug, “Yeah check his shoes in his closet. He thinks hiding them there will discourage you from wearing them.” 

Harry wrinkles his nose in disgust and moves to leave. Smiling gratefully before he goes, “Thanks, Liam.” 

He leaves in a huff and Liam finally breaks, laughing fully, shoulders vibrating with it. 

“Does this happen often?”

Liam gets up to take their plates to the sink, throwing the empty bags of chips away as he goes, nodding. “Yeah at least twice a semester since Harry started wearing the damn things. I usually try and fish them out and put them back before Harry realizes but Niall must’ve just done it recently.” 

There’s something about the way Liam talks about Harry that makes Calum’s mouth press into a hard line, jealousy creeping up inside him and he doesn’t like it at all but the next moment Liam’s smiling warm and bright, shaking his head and laughing, “But enough about Harry. Today is about you.”

The words feel heavy in the air, weighing down on Calum like a thick blanket in the winter, warm and inviting, and he wants to pluck them out and hide them away somewhere safe. It’s absurd and utterly ridiculous how the warmth of Liam’s voice and the twinkle in his eyes makes Calum feel and he’s at a loss for what to say, swallowing roughly, “Okay.” 

* 

They spend the rest of the day together and it feels like Liam has been a part of his life for longer than just the month and a half he’s known him with how easy and comfortable he makes Calum feel. The day dwindles by in easy talk and by the time the sun sets he’s startled to have Liam’s attention on anyone but him. His stomach clenching uncomfortably at how easily Liam leaves him when Harry comes down the stairs and says, “Liam, come help me make dinner.” 

It’s almost like an afterthought the way Harry’s face transforms with a smooth practiced smile as he registers Calum’s presence, “Come on Calum, Luke’ll be here soon.” 

Liam asks it before Calum can, “Are we having dinner together?”  
There’s a lilt of teasing in Harry’s response that lets Calum know they are. “No Liam, I’m cooking dinner for Luke. You’re just here to help.” 

It looks almost as if Liam is going to agree, say that he’d be glad to just help, but then his face splits into a breathtaking grin and he shoves Harry lightly into the kitchen, huffing out, “You’re such an ass sometimes.” 

Harry turns around, hand placed over his heart in show of pain. But his mouth deceives him, turned up at the corners in a smile. “Your words sting. I’m just trying to show my Little a good time like you’ve shown yours.” 

Liam laughs, a bright, bubbly sound that mimics the joy written all over his face. “No, you’re trying to show me up is what you’re doing.” 

Harry’s smile slips into something smirky, eyes bright and he shrugs, not denying it at all. His eyes widen a beat later and his face transforms in a grin, saying over Calum’s shoulder, “Luke! You’re just in time!” 

Calum turns to see Luke stopped awkwardly at the doorway to the kitchen, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously, looking anywhere but Calum and Harry says, voice colored in something that sounds a lot like concern, “Don’t look so put out.” 

He looks quickly between him and Calum, mouth in a line, like he knows something that Calum doesn’t, saying brightly as ever, waving Luke over, “It’s dinner. It’s going to be delicious. Please smile.” 

* 

There’s never a dull moment in the kitchen that night. Calum thinks watching Liam and Harry interact might be a lot like what it looks like for someone to watch him and Luke, or what it might have been like before today. They move around each other and play off each other’s words as if it’s all they’ve ever known. It’s endearing and frustrating all at once and Calum is glad to get a reprieve as the aroma of Harry’s cooking brings the other boys in the house through the kitchen with more frequency. It gives pause and distraction to the nearly stifling silence between him and Luke and the awkward way Harry’s eyes dart between the two of them when he’s not preoccupied with Liam. 

Niall comes in halfway through. He grabs a granola bar from the pantry and then hovers over Harry for a few moments surveying the kitchen and what Harry’s cooking. He dips his pinky in the sauce that Harry’s stirring, earning nothing more than a slow, mumbled _hey_ from Harry and leaves just as fast as he came, calling back as he goes, “Harry, your spaghetti puts everyone else’s to shame. Save me some!” 

Harry rolls his eyes but there’s no mistaking the small, fond smile that graces his lips. Liam stage whispers from where he’s slicing a loaf of garlic bread on the counter next to Harry, eyes sparkling with teasing, “Niall’s still trying to get out of the dog house after hiding Harry’s scarves earlier.” 

Luke’s face clouds in confusion and Harry gives Liam a sharp look that makes Liam laugh. Calum leans over to explain what happened to Luke but he jumps, shying away from Calum and he only has a moment to contemplate the twisting feeling in the pit of his heart, not knowing what’s made Luke act this way, before they’re interrupted once again. 

Kevin comes in the kitchen and peaks over Harry’s shoulder, fingers ready to dip into the saucepan when Harry slaps his hand away, warning, “Kevin, this isn’t for you.” 

Kevin sighs, shoulders hunching. “Just want a li’l, Harry.” 

Harry laughs, shaking his head and asking, “Are you my Little, Kevin?” 

Kevin doesn’t seem to follow, saying slowly, dragging out the end of the word, “Noo.” 

Harry shrugs, as if it’s obvious, “Then it’s not for you.” 

“You just let Niall have some!” 

Harry ignores him, continuing to stir the sauce as if nothing had happened at all. He turns the heat off, fixes Kevin with a reluctant smile and then grabs a spoon from the drawer next to him, dipping it in the sauce quickly and handing it over. “Here. Now shoo. I’m trying to be welcoming.” 

He fixes Luke with such an intense look that Calum isn’t surprised at all when he steals a glance and finds Luke blushing red, biting his lip tentatively. Kevin and Liam aren’t fazed by it at all but Calum feels a prickling at the back of his neck, uneasy all of a sudden. 

Kevin smiles, swipes the spoon in and out of his mouth quickly, pleased. He nods his thanks to Harry and discards the spoon in the sink, and then waves his hands between the four of them with a chuckle, “Get back to being welcoming! I should probably do the same. My Little’s been a bit of a grump this week.”

There’s a beat of silence after he leaves, heavy with tenseness, but it’s gone in a flash as Liam starts plating the food, telling a story about the time Niall and Harry had a cook off last year in an attempt to prove who was the best cook. 

Harry sits up proudly in his chair, chest puffing out comically as he says, “I was the unanimous winner.” 

Liam leans over in his chair, resting his hand gently on Calum’s knee as he does and whispers quickly, “Only because Louis threatened to put itching powder in all our underwear drawers if we chose Niall.” 

Calum should laugh, it’s funny. Really. But Liam’s hand is warm and firm through the fabric of his jeans and he squeezes ever so slightly as he pulls away and it makes Calum’s head spin. Any concern Calum had that this might just be Little/Big bonding, that Liam is this friendly with everyone is gone just like that. Liam looks at him after like he wants to devour him and Calum feels hot all over the rest of dinner. 

*  
The walk back to the dorm is uncomfortably quiet. Luke doesn’t say more than one worded responses every time Calum tries to get the conversation flowing and eventually he just gives up entirely, the two of them walking back in silence. 

Luke pauses at their door, hand on the doorknob almost as if he’s bracing himself. He opens it after a pause, huffing out a long, ragged breath as they push through into their room, finally speaking, low and quiet, as if he’s afraid to say it, “You’ll be careful, right?” 

Luke’s face is soft and concerned and Calum’s face must betray his confusion because then Luke’s stammering out, “I just - I just don’t - I just --” 

Something hard flashes over his face, jaw set uncomfortably in his attempt to get the words out, finally saying, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” 

He flops down in his bed, resting his head in his hands briefly as Calum struggles to say something, anything, to get that look off his face.

“Don’t worry, Lukey. It’s not gonna happen.” 

The words are heavy in his mouth and he’s not quite sure he believes them himself but he wants Luke to so he says again, with more conviction, “It’s not going to happen. Promise it won’t.” 

Luke looks up from his hands, eyes suddenly more tired than Calum’s ever seen before and he shrugs, “You really like him.” 

It’s not really a question but Calum answers anyway, “Yeah. I do.” 

Calum thinks Luke’s face falls for a fraction of a second but then it’s gone, replaced with a tight smile, teasing almost, “He’s your Big.” 

“Yeah,” Calum says cautiously, “I know.” 

There’s a moment where Luke looks like he’s going to say something else, warn him against it, but then he smiles fully for the first time all night and Calum breathes easier. “You’ve always liked to toe the line of inappropriate. I shouldn’t be surprised you’d be drawn to an intrafrat relationship.” 

And just like that he has his best friend back. The two of them dissolving into loud, raucous laughter, like they hadn’t spent the entire evening tiptoeing around each other awkwardly. 

* 

Though they ended the night on a solid note it becomes clear over the next two weeks that try as he might Luke can’t wrap his head around Calum’s budding relationship with Liam. He asks Michael about it after Luke gives him a particularly cold shoulder throughout their time volunteering at an animal shelter, even choosing to walk past him and Michael and head off on his own for the dorm. Michael just shrugs as he watches Luke walk ahead of them, eyes surveying the hunch of Luke’s shoulders and the awkward way he shuffles his feet as he goes, finally saying, “Maybe he just misses having your undivided attention?”

Michael looks at Calum carefully, like he’s not telling Calum everything. His eyes dart back to Luke quickly before continuing, “You two used to do practically everything together and it’s probably a bit unsettling that you spend so much time with someone else.” 

Michael smiles warily, pointing at Calum’s phone. “And when you’re not with Liam you’re practically glued to that thing. So.” 

Calum blushed, shoving his phone back in his pocket quickly and muttering an apology. Michael just laughs. “Don’t have to apologize to me. I don’t mind. I get it, really.” He shrugs his shoulders again, “Just think he misses you, man.” 

Not for the first, and probably not for the last, either, Calum feels like there’s something going on that he’s missing. Something that everyone else is in on that he’s not but he shakes off the feeling and speeds up to catch up with Luke, slinging his arm around his shoulder and whispering just or Luke to hear, “Let’s spend the day together tomorrow. Just us.” 

Luke melts into Calum at the words and Calum sighs in relief. Happy that Michael appears to have been right this time.

*  
Everything changes after Halloween, though. 

The day before is spent decorating the front lawn with cheesy skeletons, tombstones with bad puns, tacky neon green cobwebs filled with toy spiders -- door plastered with caution tape and a sign reading _beware_. All of Friday afternoon is spent picking up the brothers’ costumes and decorating the inside with even more cotton cobwebs and skulls that click their teeth as someone walks by that by the time night rolls around and the party starts he’s not sure how much longer he’ll be able to make it. 

That is until he spots Liam in the corner at the keg filling people’s drinks. There’s two girls from Delta Gamma staring at his bare chest from across the kitchen, wide eyed and mouths slightly agape and Calum feels like maybe, he looks a bit like them, too. Liam’s clad only in a pair of snug red swim trunks, a red lifesaver tossed on the table beside him and he looks an awful lot like he walked straight out of an episode of _Baywatch_ and his head is dizzy with the sight of it. He nervously glances at the costume he’s wearing before going over, fidgeting with the itchy material of the shoulder straps as he goes. 

Liam spots him and his face transforms into that fond, crinkly-eyed smile that Calum’s grown to love so much and Calum doesn’t care if he feels a bit like an idiot dressed like AC Slater fresh from a wrestling match, it’s worth it to have Liam look so happy. 

“You look good,” Liam says, handing him a cup of beer.

Calum takes swig and wrinkles his nose at Liam, “No, I look like an idiot. But thank you, anyway.” 

Liam pouts, mouth wobbling slightly, “At least it’s better than what Ashton made Michael wear.” 

Calum laughs, “I think Beetlejuice suits him. He already had the hair, at least.” 

Michael comes over at that point, kisses Calum on the cheek sloppily and swoons, “Ooooh Calum, let me be your Jessie, pleeeease.” 

He doesn’t give Calum a chance to respond, just grabs another drink and hurries off to find Ashton, leaving him and Liam there laughing in his wake. 

Niall comes over, cheeks flushed and eyes bright, and pats Liam on the back, nearly shouting over the noise of the party, “Go enjoy yourself a bit, Leemo. I’ve got drink duty now.” 

Liam doesn’t need more than that before he’s pulling Calum away and ushering him into the living room where the party is at its loudest. From there, everything feels like a blur, happening in flashes. Liam’s hand on Calum’s back, hot and firm in its place, guiding him around the room. His mouth warm against his ear as he asks if he’s having a good time. The flash of stark jealousy he gets in the pit of his stomach when Harry comes over with Luke, arm slung across his shoulder as he snaps the waistband of Liam’s shorts to make Liam laugh. Sitting almost entirely in Luke’s lap giggling against the collar of his cardigan, “You make a good Danny, Lukey.” Luke’s fingers tightening around his wrist as he pulls him to the kitchen for another drink. Yawning on the couch, head tucked up against a pillow on Michael’s shoulder waiting for him and Luke to want to go home. Liam smiling down at him and tugging him up out of his seat, saying soft, barely audible over the noise, “Come on, Cal.” 

He feels suddenly wide awake, all traces of his want for sleep gone, last dregs of alcohol fading away to where he’s completely aware of the feeling of Liam’s fingers loose around his wrist, thumb gently rubbing back and forth over his pulse point as he drags him upstairs, saying nothing more than, “You can sleep up here until they’re ready to go.” 

Liam shuts the door behind him, pointing to his still sleep rumpled bed, and Calum thinks _This is it, Calum. If you pass this moment by you and Liam will stay perpetually just friends tiptoeing around your attraction for each other_ , blurting out, before he can think better of it, “Are you ever going to kiss me, Liam?” 

Liam’s mouth snakes into a smile, eyes flashing with desire and he walks to Calum, hand on his neck pulling him in, “Had to make sure you were into it first, man.” 

His lips are slightly chapped and there’s a trace of whiskey on his tongue and Calum thinks it’s perfect, letting Liam take the lead, going with him as he starts pushing him back to the bed, humming into the kiss when Liam pushes him down on the bed, knees settling against his thighs. 

Liam pulls away and laughs, bright and bubbly and contagious. He fiddles with the strap of Calum’s costume, flicking it in aggravation, “This is going to have to come off.” 

Everything happens so fast after that, as if Calum’s breathy little “yeah, it will” is all it takes to snap Liam out of treading water around Calum. He leans back on Calum’s thighs, pushing the fabric down around Calum’s waist, eyes roaming Calum’s bare chest, fingers brushing over the feather on his collarbone and ducking down to kiss it quick and soft, saying as he gets up, “I really do like that tattoo.” 

Liam motions for Calum to lift his hips and then slips the wrestling uniform down around his ankles, revealing Calum’s embarrassingly hard cock and Calum’s breath catches in his throat as Liam settles in between his legs, hand on his thighs, fingers pressing in as he kisses gently at the head. 

Liam’s hands are firm on his thighs, fingers digging in harder, stopping Calum’s hips from bucking up. He looks up at Calum, smirking, eyes hooded already and Calum can’t wait any longer. He needs Liam to touch him already and Liam doesn’t disappoint. He ducks his head down and licks a stripe up the underside of his cock and then swallows him down. His mouth is warm and he moves with such ease that Calum finds himself wondering how often Liam has dicks in his mouth, but the thought is pushed away as the head of his cock hits the back of Liam’s throat. His throat flutters with the pressure and he groans around Calum, looking up at him through hooded, heavy eyes and Calum’s hips buck up. Liam smiles, raising his eyebrows encouragingly and Calum’s chest feels tight with it, head spinning. He can’t believe that Liam is giving him permission -- encouraging him, even -- to fuck his face. Liam pulls away and sucks hard at the head before dipping back and moaning around him and Calum can’t help himself. His hips buck forward again, up into Liam’s mouth, his throat fluttering again and it doesn’t take long after that. He comes hard down the back of Liam’s throat, one hand in Liam’s hair, groaning into the back of the other. 

Liam pulls off, wiping his mouth, leaving behind traces of spit and spunk and Calum thinks this is the best he’s ever seen Liam look, mouth red and slick, eyes dark and glassy, and Calum wants nothing more than to kiss him until it hurts. He pulls him up and back into his lap, kissing him hard, hand twisted in his hair. He fumbles over himself trying to get LIam’s waistband down, and Liam finds Calum’s hand, steadying him, pushing his shorts out of the way, letting Calum wrap his hand around him loosely, setting up a rhythm. 

Liam is so responsive that it has Calum thickening up again, wanting so much from Liam already, and Liam comes with his face rested in the crook of Calum’s neck, biting softly at the skin and Calum laughs. He can’t help it, he’s happy and it bubbles out of him in a way he can’t control. Liam pushes him down on the bed, rolling off of him and giggling at his side for a moment before getting up and throwing him a roll of paper towels from his desk.

“You can sleep here if you’d like.” 

Liam’s suddenly nervous, fidgeting with the waistband of the sweats he’s just pulled on, “I mean, you don’t have to. Don’t feel obligated --” 

But Liam stops as he sees Calum crawling up the bed and snuggling into his pillows, comforter tucked up around his chin, “Man, I forgot how comfortable real beds were. You might never get rid of me.” 

Liam’s eyes crinkle and his laugh is light and fond and Calum falls asleep with the thought of how nice this is. How much he likes Liam. 

*  
The morning after Liam lets him borrow a pair of gym shorts and shirt for his walk home, waving his hand when Calum says he’ll bring them back, “Don’t worry about it.” 

And Calum doesn’t worry about it. Not until he sees Luke sitting in his bed when he gets back to their dorm. His eyes are red and a little puffy around the rims like maybe he’s been crying and when he sees what Calum’s wearing and the way he’s got his costume from last night tucked under his arm he laughs awkwardly, face pinched as he says, “ Guess you owe me those Cheerios, Cal.” 

He wants to laugh but the sound gets caught in his throat, coming out something like an awkward cough. Luke just stands up, grabbing his backpack from his desk chair and starts walking toward the door. 

Calum feels like something has shifted between the two of them and he doesn’t like it. “Luke, are you alright? What’s wrong?” 

There’s a brief moment where Luke’s face twists into something furious, color rising in his cheeks and eyes hardening. But then he shrugs, picks at the purple fabric of the shirt Calum’s wearing and smiles, “This color looks nice on you.” 

Calum blinks, trying to make sense of what is going on between the two of them, fingers flying to Luke’s wrist as he makes to leave the room, stopping him, “Hey, talk to me. What’s up?”

Luke doesn’t look at him, not at first, he just pulls his hand away gently, opening the door. “Nothing, Cal. Just a bit hungover. Need to get started on my paper that’s due Monday. I’ll be back later.” 

He looks at him, finally, with a strained smile that doesn’t reach the rest of his face, especially not his eyes and Calum knows he’s lying. Knows it’s not the paper at all but Luke’s shoulders are set and his eyes are hard and Calum knows that look. Knows it means he doesn’t want to talk about it. So he let’s him go, let’s him close the door without another word and tries not to worry. But Luke doesn't come back all day. He doesn’t respond to a single text Calum sends him or answer his call when him and Michael go out for dinner. Calum’s completely worried by the time he settles in for bed; he hasn’t heard from Luke all day. 

He wakes up in the morning and Luke’s in his bed, sleeping, curled up with his pillow, shoes still on and Calum breathes out a sigh of relief, happy that he’s back. 

“Lukey, let me take your shoes off for you.” 

Luke’s voice is rough and thick from sleep. “No,” he says, grabbing for Calum’s hand, “Jus’ c‘mere.”

He pulls him down on the bed, snaking his arms around Calum and snuggling into his neck, tickling him and making him laugh. Luke pulls him closer, sighing as Calum melts into it and Calum reaches up and ruffles his hair, asking “Feeling better this morning?”

Luke stiffens against Calum’s side, arms tightening around Calum’s waist and his voice is tight, “Shh. Let’s just stay like this for a moment. I’m fine.”  
Calum doesn’t want to push him, so he bites back the “Are you sure?” at the tip of his tongue. Swallowing it down and laughing at the feel of Luke’s hair tickling his cheek, rolling on top of him and hugging him close, as tight as he can manage, kissing his forehead quickly, “I’m glad you’re feeling better. You had me really worried yesterday.” 

Luke pushes Calum off him, eyes closed as he says, “Sorry, ‘bout that.” 

He pushes himself up on his elbows and looks down at Calum, something uneasy still playing in his eyes, asking, “You know I really love you, right?” 

Calum breath hitches, trying to hide it with a laugh but Luke is so serious that Calum can’t. He sits up, air tense and serious around them, “Of course, Lucas.” 

He reaches out and pokes Luke’s cheeks, appreciative at the way Luke smiles, cheek dimpling, and finishes, “We’re best friends.”

Luke tenses just the slightest bit and Calum doesn’t understand. Thinks he may never understand Luke ever again and wonders for a moment if that’s what college does. Wonders if it brings new people together just to tear old ones apart but then Luke’s up, grabbing clothes from his dresser and walking to the bathroom, huge smile plastered on his face, saying, “I know we are,” and Calum’s worries fade away. 

*  
Calum and Luke are fine until Michael ask what happened to Calum after the party on Monday at lunch. Luke tenses up and Michael gives him a sympathetic look as Calum says, “Might’ve slept with Liam.” 

Calum tries not to notice the way Luke’s hands still on the table, eyes closing and breathing in deeply, in that way he always does when something’s bothering him. He tries not to get annoyed by the fact that his best friend can’t be happy for him finding someone he really likes and tries to shove the prickly hurt feeling down, cast it away. He shrugs, downplaying it, “I don’t think it’s a big deal. Just a bit of fun.” 

Luke looks up sharply, eyes fierce and angry, “What?”

Heat rises in Calum’s cheeks. He’s never been on the opposite end of a look like that from Luke and it stings, makes him feel a little empty in the pit of his stomach, nervous to say anything at all, “I dunno. Dunno if it’s serious yet. We haven’t. We didn’t quite talk about _that_.”

Luke’s eyes lose a little heat, softening into something like disappointment and Calum’s annoyance flares up, voice rising slightly, “Why are you being such a fucking dick about this, Luke?” 

“Calum,” Michael warns, “Maybe you two should talk about this somewhere other than the middle of the cafeteria.” 

His eyes are filled with worry, looking between the two of them like they’re both fragile and about to break and Calum’s even more annoyed at the hurt look on Luke’s face. Annoyed that he could ever cause Luke to look like that and confused as to how they got here in the first place. Luke’s words are like a slap in his face, sharp and biting, “Sorry. Just think maybe you don’t see everything that’s going on here, man.”

“What do you mean?”

Luke looks to Michael for help and Michael shrugs, sympathy written all over his face and Calum feels like he’s coming undone. His head hurts with the way his friends are sitting around him talking in a language that he’ll never understand about something that he clearly needs to get. 

Luke gets up, shoulders hunched and hands shaky as he picks up his trash, “Forget about it, Cal. I’m happy for you.” 

Calum scoffs, he can’t help himself, and Luke’s eyes dart toward him and there’s an emotion there that Calum can’t decipher but it leaves him more uneasy than anything else before and he doesn’t like it at all. “Don’t Calum. Just fucking don’t.” 

He turns on his heel, throwing his trash away and leaving without another word to either of them and Calum’s left there dumbfounded Michael staring at him cautiously, waiting for Calum to say something but he doesn’t know what to feel, let alone say, and all that comes out when Michael pats him on the shoulder and says, “He’ll get past this,” is a short, hollow laugh. 

But no matter how much Michael reassure him that he and Luke will get past this Calum can’t find it in himself to believe him when Luke spends as much time away from Calum as he can. He takes up studying with Harry, instead of with Calum and Michael, leaving the dorm early and coming back late, not saying much more to Calum than hello and goodnight whenever Calum tries to break the tension. 

He eventually gives up. He spends all the time he would have spent with Luke with Liam and it serves as a good distraction. Things with Liam are fun and never serious and it’s just what Calum needs. It’s nice to have someone he can laugh with when everything else around him feels so tense. When the friendship he’s had for nearly half his life seems to be crumbling before his very eyes, feeling helpless to stop it because Luke won’t stay still long enough for him to try and fix it. 

Liam asks him about it once, soft and concerned after he’d taken Calum out for burgers and fries, “Are you and Luke alright? You two seemed a little tense at the last pledge meeting.” 

Calum’s shoulders tense and Liam eyes flash in concern, “Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject.” 

“No, it’s fine. Luke’s just going through a thing. I dunno he’s not really talking to me very much right now.” 

Liam’s face clouds with understanding, “Ah, I see. ” 

Calum’s head hurts. He doesn’t want to have this conversation, his chest feels tight and uneasy, as if saying the words out loud makes the tension between him and Luke more real, as if it makes it more permanent, something that won’t just go away if Calum hopes it will hard enough. 

Liam takes a bite of his burger, chewing carefully and then says thoughtfully, “Hope he comes around soon, Calum.” 

“Yeah, so do I. Just dunno if he will.” 

*

At their next pledge meeting Luke lets Calum sit next to him, their knees knocking together in their closeness and Calum thinks this is the sign that the tide is changing and maybe he’ll finally start talking to him again. But the meeting ends and Luke gets up quickly, almost as if he realized where he’d been, leaving the room quickly. Calum makes to follow him, resigned to finally sort this out once and for all, tired of walking around on eggshells with Luke, but Harry stops him at the stairs, voice careful, “Calum, can I have a minute?”

In the second he turns around to look at Harry Luke leaves the house, shutting the door behind him in a hurry and Calum knows he’s missed his chance, sighing, “Yeah, what’s up?”

“As someone who barely knows you, past the wonderful things I’ve heard from Liam, it’s probably none of my business,” Harry says, and Calum already doesn’t like where this is going, doesn’t like the way Harry makes him feel like he’s treading into his territory by being with Liam. 

His annoyance flares up even more as Harry continues, “But as his Big I feel like it’s my duty to cheer him up so can I ask what’s going on between you and Luke?”

There’s something about the tone in Harry’s voice that leads Calum to believe he knows exactly what is going on, he just wants to hear it in Calum’s words, and there’s an undercurrent of affection in his voice around Luke’s name that has Calum’s nostrils flaring, arms tensing, “I don’t know, Harry.” 

That’s a lie and Harry seems to know it, seems to be able to see right through the wall Calum’s tried so hard to build up the last week and a half. His words are slower than usual, as if he’s considering them carefully, “Okay. I think you’ll find that if you retrace your steps between now and the time he stopped talking to you you’ll figure it out. Maybe even before that.” 

There it is again, that feeling that everyone knows something he doesn’t and Calum’s so exhausted that the words spill out of his mouth before he even registers what he’s doing. “He’s not happy about me and Liam.”

Harry straightens up, eyes lighting up with something that Calum doesn’t recognize, hands clasped behind his back, saying, “I think it’s bigger than that, Calum.” 

Calum knows that. He just doesn’t know exactly what it is. He can’t tell if it’s because Luke thinks it’s inappropriate to be fooling around with someone in the frat or if it’s because it’s casual or it really is just because Luke misses him. But whatever it is Luke isn’t giving him a chance to figure it out when he won’t spend more than ten minutes in his presence anymore, and Calum’s sick of people asking him about it. He’s sick of the way Michael won’t mention what him and Luke do together, he hates the way Liam treads carefully around the subject and he hates the fact that when his mom called the day before to ask if he was excited about Thanksgiving he had to lie to her and say that Luke would be there for dessert for sure. 

He rubs his hands over his face, frustrated and when he straightens up, ready to ask Harry to elaborate, he finds Niall next to them, steadying them both with a wary smile, “What are you two talking about?”

Neither of them answer and Niall laughs nervously, giving Harry a look that says he’s unhappy, saying low and warning, “Harry, you’re going to regret this later.” 

Something snaps in Harry, he loosens his shoulders, features softening, tenseness fading out of him just like that and he smiles at Niall gratefully, “Yeah, you’re right.” 

He turns back to Calum, face warm and inviting like it had been that first night they met, “I hope you and Luke work it out. He really cares about you.” 

Then his eyes twinkle mischievously, smirking somewhat devilishly, teasing, “Ask Niall, I’m really good at knowing these things.” 

Niall laughs, nervousness leaving his body with it and he smacks Harry playfully in the chest, “You’re so full of yourself sometimes, Styles.”  
Calum leaves the frat house just as confused as he’d been since Luke walked away from him at lunch, Harry’s words _I think it’s bigger than that_ ringing in his ears the whole way home. He arrives back to an empty dorm and sinks into his bed, frustrated to the point of tears, blinking back wetness. He startles as the door opens, wiping his hands over his eyes quickly, trying to hide how upset he is with a smile, “Hey, Lukey.”

“Are you okay, Calum?”

He looks genuinely concerned and all the frustration Calum has had toward Luke in the last week and a half melts away. “Just miss you. Can’t seem to catch any time with you.”

Luke shifts his weight, pulling the sleeves of his shirt down past his wrists in a sign of nervousness, “Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

Calum laughs, quick and hollow, “Yeah, avoiding me.” 

Luke sucks in a sharp breath, laughing too, just as unkind of a sound as Calum’s had been, “Caught on, have you?”

Calum bristles. “What?!”

Luke’s mouth twists into an unsavory smile, eyes sharp, look pointed, “I didn’t think you noticed with how much time you’ve been spending with Liam.”

He cuts Calum off before he can say anything, “You know, Harry said I should talk to you. But what’s the point, Cal?”

He shrugs, voice softer, defeated as he asks again, “What’s the point?”

Calum’s chest feels tight, ears ringing with Luke’s words. He clenches his fist, standing fast, breathing in to try and get a grip on himself, trying to steady his voice, “Are you being serious right now?”

Luke’s jaw is set, shoulders tight and his eyes haven’t lost an inkling of his anger and Calum can’t believe anything he’s hearing, voice rising, “Are you fucking kidding me? I have been trying to talk to you for a week and a half. A week and a half Luke! You’ve been skirting out of rooms when I come in and leaving before I get up and hanging out with Harry and Michael and _not talking to me_ for a week and a half and you’re asking _me_ what’s the point? Luke, how can I talk to you when you won’t let me get near you?”

Luke doesn’t say anything. He looks at Calum for a long time, eyes flitting over his face quickly, darting over the room and then back, fidgeting with his hands and Calum steps forward, anger slipping away with how uncomfortable Luke looks, reaching forward to still his hands, voice calming, “Luke, hey. Come on. Just talk to me.”

He dips his head forward, resting on Calum’s shoulder and Calum breathes easy, finally getting to the point where they’ll figure this out, talking this over. But then Luke jumps back, pushing Calum away, “No, I can’t do this.” 

He pinches the bridge of his nose, voice pleading, “I can’t talk about this right now.” 

“Okay,” Calum says. He’s tired and his voice betrays it, laced with sadness, “Okay. Yeah. We can talk later.” 

* 

They don’t, though. Luke doesn’t avoid him anymore but he still doesn’t talk to him about what’s been bothering him for the last two weeks. He smiles easy and kind and they laugh like they had before things got weird and Calum’s so happy to have him back, even if it’s superficially, even if it’s not perfect, that he doesn’t broach the subject. Doesn’t want to push Luke away after finally getting him back. The end of the semester approaches and Hell Week starts and maybe it’s the stress of professors piling on the work, or the ridiculousness of having to carry around a cracker all week without it breaking coupled with the embarrassment of having to run down Greek Row naked the coldest night of the year so far, but by the time Initiation comes and goes he and Luke are completely back to normal. No matter how little they’ve talked about their problems or how much Michael tells him they should, Calum’s happy with the way things are. 

The ride back home with Luke for Thanksgiving passes quickly, the two of them talking quickly, excitedly. Luke’s eyes lighting up at the prospect of seeing his family for the first time in months and his excitement is contagious, bolstering Calum’s own excitement into something bigger and grander than it had been on its own. The break passes too quickly and Calum no longer wants to go back. Wants to stay at home where him and Luke are back on familiar ground, the two of them as close as they were before they left, as if nothing weird had happened at all over the semester and Calum spends the entire ride back to campus, uneasy, suddenly nervous that they’ll go back and something will shift. Luke will remember that they never talked anything through and go back to avoiding him. 

Luke asks him, voice concerned and cautious, as if he’s picked up on the same things Calum’s feeling, “Alright, Cal?”

“Yeah,” he says, pulling into the parking lot behind their dorm. “Yeah. Just ready to be home for a little longer. Stressed about finals. You know.” 

Luke nods, understanding, the silent agreement between the two of them to not talk about what’s really bothering them still holding true. 

Luke laughs, a mix between exhaustion and anticipation, “Least we have the formal to look forward to before it all. Harry says it’s at that nice hotel at the edge of campus, you know the one?” 

“Yeah, it’s gonna be great. Liam told--” Calum stops short, sucking in a breath, panicked. He hasn’t mentioned Liam to Luke at all since they started talking again. Didn’t want to push it and he doesn’t know how Luke will react now, relieved when he laughs, smiling as they walk up the stairs and saying, “You can talk about him, you know. I’m a big boy.” 

“I know that. I just didn’t want to--” 

“Upset me,” Luke finishes for him. “I know. But it’s fine. We’re fine.” 

Luke sounds like he means it, his face shows nothing but sincerity but there’s still a inkling in the back of Calum’s mind that maybe they’re not. Maybe they really should have talked about this a long time ago. He sighs, “Yeah, I know we are,” as they walk into their dorm, pushing the feeling away and letting himself believe Luke.

*  
The week leading up the formal is the most stressful week of his life. He has a paper -- in lieu of a final -- due in his English class the Friday before the formal and he hasn’t seen Luke for more than mealtimes and the thirty minutes before and after they go to sleep all week. He’s not ignoring him, he texts him all the time he’s away -- stupid things about how Harry can’t seem to keep it together in preparation for the formal and won’t stop mumbling under his breath about green being tacky in winter and how he wishes their colors were Theta Xi’s for a minute -- but he still misses him. Feels a little like they’ve regressed and can’t shake the feeling that something awful is about to happen. 

Liam makes him feel better about it Friday afternoon though, fucks him into the mattress after Calum turns in his papers and makes him forget just how stressed he was, telling him that things will get better once the formal is through. 

He scrunches up his nose, breathing heavily as they lie there after. Liam shakes his head a little, “Harry can be really clingy when he’s stressed. Guess he’s latched onto Luke this week. But don’t worry,” he turns and kisses Calum soft on the cheek before getting up and heading to the bathroom, “Harry’ll take good care of him. Return him to you in mint condition.” 

Liam’s joking, he can see it in his face and hear it in his voice. But Calum’s stomach swoops, flipping uncomfortably at the image flooding into his mind of Harry and Luke getting off just like he and Liam just had, and he tries to laugh, knowing that he should. “Yeah, I’m sure he will.” 

If Liam notices the tightness in Calum’s voice he doesn’t say anything. He just throws him his shirt and asks him if he wants lunch. But Calum can’t shake the image out of his mind, spending the rest of the day trying not to blink lest he see a flash of Luke’s head thrown back as Harry sucks a mark at the base of his neck. 

He heads home early, ignoring Michael’s text about dinner, not feeling like talking to anyone and falls asleep before nine. He wakes up at midnight to a loud clap of thunder and the room lit up with a bolt of lightening. He can see Luke from his bed, his hands are wrung tight in his comforter and his breathing is heavy and labored and Calum knows he’s not sleeping no matter how hard he’s trying. 

“Luke,” his voice cuts across the quiet of their room easily, but Luke doesn’t answer.

Calum sits up, throwing the comforter off of himself, saying again, “Luke, come here.” 

“Calum,” his voice is shaky, “I’m fine. Go back to sleep.” 

Calum shakes his head, getting up and walking to Luke’s bed. He places his hand over Luke’s and Luke eases up a bit but he keeps his eyes tightly shut. “Really, I’m fine.” 

“Luke Hemmings. I have known you since we were eleven years old. Do not _lie_ to me. Scoot over.”

Luke moves over, begrudgingly, lifting the comforter only slightly for Calum to move in under, mumbling, “I’m eighteen years old I’m not _supposed_ to be afraid of thunderstorms.” 

It’s almost as if Mother Nature is mocking Luke because there’s another clap of thunder, even louder this time, and Luke sucks in an uneasy breath, letting it out shakily, “Don’t laugh.”

Calum pulls him closer, running his hands through the hair at the base of his neck, soothingly, voice mimicking his motions as he says, “I wouldn’t dream it.” 

Luke settles into Calum, breathing easier, calming with every minute Calum spends with his hand in his hair, only startling slightly when another clap of thunder and burst of lightning comes, mumbling warm against Calum’s skin, “Thanks, Cal.”

“Not a problem. You know, when we get older and we graduate and get money and all that we should move somewhere it doesn’t rain as much. Get a proper place together.” 

Luke’s hand presses momentarily hard against Calum’s chest, his body tensing. He breathes out shakily and Calum knows this time it has nothing to do with the weather. “Don’t tease, Calum.” 

He tips Luke’s chin up, making him look at him, lightning illuminating the features of Luke’s face in that moment, soft and hopeful and Calum feels like he is where he’s always belonged, right here with Luke, planning for the future. 

“I’m not teasing.” 

Luke closes his eyes, thinking. He pulls Calum down and wraps him up in a hug and kisses his cheek quick and playfully, “Okay Hood, you’ve got yourself a deal.” 

Calum’s chest flutters and he does it before he can think better of it. He kisses Luke, quick and chaste -- a signature for their promise -- and then the two of them fall asleep tangled up in each other as the thunder rolls around them. 

*

In the morning Calum wakes up in Luke’s bed with no Luke in sight. It feels weird and uncomfortable like the night before is somehow tainted. He checks his phone and has no message explaining his absence and tries not to worry that something has gone horribly wrong. Tries not to think about the feel of Luke’s lips soft and tense against his own and how he’d preferred it to anything he’s done with Liam all semester. Not letting himself think about how right it felt tangled up with Luke the night before or how his stomach clenches and his jaw sets uncomfortably when he gets a text from Luke later that day saying: _Harry needs some last minute help. See you at the formal._

He goes to Michael’s room immediately, shoving his phone in his face the moment he answers the door, “Look at this. What does this mean?”

He feels a little frantic, and Michael’s laughter does nothing to soothe him. “I think it means he’ll see you at the formal and he’s busy with Harry?”

“Do you think he’s angry with me again?”

Michael blinks at him slowly, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not making sense, man. How would that indicate that he’s mad at you again?”

“So you admit he was mad at me?” 

Michael’s nostrils flare and his throws his hands up, laughing out, “Oh no no no. I am not getting involved in this. I _told_ you weeks ago you needed to talk this out with him but you didnt listen. Now I’m done. You two do your thing. I’m just a friendly bystander at this point.” 

Calum can’t stop himself, he can’t shut up now that he’s started thinking about everything that’s happened the last few weeks with Luke. “You know I kissed him last night and then we fell asleep and I woke up this morning and he was gone.” 

“You _what_?” 

Calum waves his hand, trying to get rid of that look of shock on Michael’s face. “It was nothing. Just a seal to a promise. It wasn’t a big deal. But you know. I don’t know. I didn’t expect him to just be _gone_ in the morning.”

Michael straightens up, sighing loud and drawn out, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes quickly, then looks at Calum, something like disappointment and anger written on his face, saying sharply, “You need to talk to Luke.” 

“Michael-” 

“Just talk to him, Cal. You really need to talk to him this time.”

Michael’s never sounded quite so serious and it makes his skin crawl, setting him on edge, like there’s an unsaid _before it’s too late_ hanging in the air.

“Okay. I will.”

*  
He doesn’t get a chance to talk to him before the formal because Luke holds true to his words, he must have taken his things with him when he left this morning, and he doesn’t see him at all until the formal. And even then he only gets flashes of him. Luke darting around the crowd with Harry the entire time like they’re glued at the hip and Calum knows that whatever it is that happened last night has taken them back three steps and they’re not okay -- that Luke is definitely avoiding him again. 

He tries to talk to Michael about it but he shoots him down, shaking his head and patting Calum on the cheek softly before walking away, calling back, “Just talk to him!” 

Calum wishes it was that easy. But every time he gets close to Luke he balks, nervously mumbling something about needing to get a drink and walking away before Calum can get a word in other than hello. Liam finds him halfway through the night, laughing big and bright and infectiously and Calum feels easier in his presence. Like he has time to figure out what he feels about Luke another day and that tonight is about having fun and celebrating the last day of classes being done and the semester almost being over. He and Liam are dancing ridiculously in the center of the floor, Niall and Zayn swaying off rhythm beside them when Harry comes over and steals Liam away, pulling him off the dance floor and to the side and whispering hurriedly against Liam’s ear. Liam’s face scrunches up in happiness, hand snaking around Harry’s waist and pulling him closer and Calum feels nothing. Three days ago it would have made Calum’s cheeks tint with jealousy, eyes hard and unkind at the thought of Harry and Liam having something that he couldn’t understand. But now it doesn’t faze him at all. He’s actually happy that Harry can make Liam look so happy. Especially now that he’s standing here searching the crowd for Luke, worrying that he’s fucked up their friendship forever. Finally realizing what it is he’s been feeling for the last two days.

Calum finally finds Luke, tucked away in a corner of the ballroom, holding a glass of water in his hands, looking at his feet awkwardly. Calum’s on his way to talk to him, feeling only slightly bad about cornering him, literally, when Liam finds him again. He’s smiling warm and happily, snaking his fingers around Calum’s wrist and tugging him to a stop. “Hey, where’re you going?”

Calum blinks, not knowing what to say, instead asking, before he even realizes it, “Are you in love with Harry?”

Liam stills, fingers loosening around his wrist before falling away completely. His mouth caught in a little ‘O’ and then his eyes melt, face softening into something that he’s only seen reserved for Harry. “Yeah. Think I might be a little. But you know...” 

He trails off, thinking, trying to pick out his words carefully and Calum shrugs, not wanting to make Liam feel bad, saying, “I think I’ve always known that a little. I mean, if I paid attention, at least.” 

Liam laughs, eyes crinkling up and Calum’s surprised at how easy this is.“That obvious?”

“A little. Love’s funny that way. Think it’s only obvious when you want it to be.”

Liam nods his head in the direction Calum had been heading, “Finally going to talk to him?” 

“What?”

Liam smiles, and for the first time since any of this started he thinks he understands what’s happening. “I just mean, Harry and I aren’t the only ones tiptoeing around our feelings here.”

Calum closes his eyes, steeling himself for what he’s about to say to Luke, hoping it doesn’t end disastrously, breathing out, “Yeah, guess we were perfect for each other in that way.” 

Liam’s laugh is quick and loud, washing away the panic in Calum’s head and he lets himself laugh too. Let’s Liam squeeze him on the shoulder and nod his head encouragingly, lets himself watch as Liam finds Harry again, laces their fingers together and pulls him away. He lets himself imagine Luke’s face lighting up the same way Harry’s does when Liam goes to him, lets himself believe that Luke won’t punch him in the face for putting him through so much hell the last few months. 

Luke’s still there in the corner by the time Calum works out what he’s going to say. He’s awkwardly tapping his foot to the music, finally having sat down at the cocktail table he’d been standing next to, finger idly tracing the rim of his glass when Calum finally makes his way over, losing all semblance of cool the moment Luke looks at him. 

His eyes are hard and unkind and they’re right back to where they had been three weeks ago when Luke had asked him _What’s the point, Cal?_

Calum stumbles over his words, trying to get it out like he’d planned, “Luke, I think we need to talk.” 

Luke’s eyes sharpen, blue looking icy cold, “What?” 

Calum follows his eyes and sees him looking at Harry and Liam talking close, Liam’s arm around Harry’s waist, at the opposite corner of the ballroom, Luke’s next words coming out sharp and steely, “Come to waste your time with me while Liam’s preoccupied with Harry again?” 

“Luke,” Calum says, trying to make him listen. 

Luke cuts him off, sucking in a sharp breath and apologizing, “Sorry. That was rude. I’ve been trying to be better about that, remember?”

He laughs, a quick burst of air that doesn’t sound pleasant in the slightest and Calum breathes out, bracing himself for this conversation finally. “You know, you’re awfully jealous sometimes.” 

Luke bites his lip, eyes widening comically and he shifts back in his chair, cheeks flushing and Calum’s heart races, heart pounding in his ears as Luke says, “Oh. Um-” his voice is strained and uncomfortable and he’s running his hands through his hair nervously, “I’m. You know. I’ve been trying to like. You know. Not be.” 

His hands are flailing, reaching for the words he can’t quite get out and Calum is ridiculously endeared, stepping forward and placing his hand on Luke’s knee, stilling it. 

“Luke, will you just let me talk to you for five minutes. Please?”

He closes his eyes, not able to meet Calum’s at all, breathing out a quick, “Okay.” 

“I’m really sorry I’ve been so fucking oblivious this whole semester. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about this earlier. I’m sorry I let things get so weird between us for so long. And I’m so sorry I kissed you last night.” 

Luke’s eyes snap open, the little color in his face draining completely and he practically begs, “Please, Calum, don’t. You don’t have to say it I already know.” 

Calum squeezes Luke’s leg and he slumps against the back of his chair, defeated, Calum ploughing on, “I swear to God, things should not be this hard between us. I am trying to tell you that I love you.” 

“I know Calum, I’m your best friend. That’s the problem here.” 

“No. You’re not _listening_ to me. I _love_ you.” 

It’s not the reaction Calum expects at all. But Luke shoots up out of his chair, pushing Calum back and out of the way, saying fiercely, “It’s really fucking low of you to do this to me. I am your _best friend_.”

He walks away quickly, cutting through the crowd and making his way to the exit, leaving Calum stunned in his spot, not knowing what exactly just happened. It takes him a moment to realize that Luke thinks he’s fucking with him. Hurrying to catch up with him, walking out of the hotel to find Luke nowhere in sight

He finds him fifteen minutes later pacing around their dorm room, jacket thrown over his chair, tie on the floor, shirt half unbuttoned. He stills the moment Calum shuts the door, tensing up with every step Calum takes toward him, eyes closed not daring to look at Calum. 

“Luke, I understand that I have given you no reason to believe me with the way I have acted in the last few months. But I can assure you I would _never_ fuck around with you like that.” 

He places his hand on Luke’s hip, brushing his finger back and forth, “Come on, you know I would never do that to you.” 

Luke opens his eyes, the faintest amount of hope creeping across his face and Calum closes the gap between them, slotting their mouths together in a kiss that is nothing like their one from the night before. It’s fierce and firm and Calum tries to press every feeling he’s had for Luke in the last two days, probably the last few months, maybe even longer, into it and Luke responds in kind. 

His arms come up around Calum’s neck and his hands find Calum’s hair, tugging softly as Calum licks into his mouth. It is absolutely everything Calum didn’t quite know he needed until this moment right here. Luke pushes him back, guiding him toward Calum’s bed, pulling off and saying breathily, “Yeah, sorry. I know. I know,” in between kisses. 

Luke trips over Calum’s feet at the edge of the bed and Calum falls backwards, pulling Luke down with him, the two of them laughing into each other. Luke kisses his neck, and Calum tightens his grip on Luke’s waist, rolling him over and settling on his lap. 

He looks at him, surveying the way Luke’s eyes are slightly blown, lips pink and puffy from kissing and Calum wants nothing else than to make him happy, to make up for putting him through so much shit. He dips down and kisses Luke’s neck, working his way up his jaw and back to his lips as he fumbles to get the rest of Luke’s buttons undone. Luke responds in kind to Calum, hands flying up and pushing at Calum’s jacket, pushing impatiently. 

There’s months, maybe even years of impatience in every one of their motions. The two of them quick and hurried to get each other’s clothes off, giggling into each other with each fumbled step and missed kiss. They kick their pants off, hands flying over each other’s bodies, drinking in every new sound they elicit from each other and trying to savor it all. Calum slaps Luke’s hand away as he tries to wrap his fingers around Calum’s dick, instead hurrying down the bed and settling between Luke’s legs, taking in the way Luke’s voice flutters around his name as Calum swallows him down. 

He groans, dick twitching with every sound Luke makes, enjoying the fact that he’s learned something new about Luke after all these years. That he can’t shut up when he’s getting off and Calum’s dizzy with the need to make him come. Sucking harder around the head before dipping back down and letting Luke hit the back of his throat, savoring the way his hips stutter beneath Calum’s hands in an attempt not to buck up into Calum’s mouth. It makes him laugh, low and soft at the back of his throat, vibrating around Luke’s dick in a way that finally sends him over the edge, a soft, muffled, “Fuck” ringing through the room as Luke comes down the back of Calum’s throat.

Calum’s so hard from getting Luke off, that it doesn’t take Luke more than a few strokes to have him coming all over his hand, laughing into the juncture of Luke’s neck, “I swear to God, I usually last longer than that.” 

Luke pushes him off, rubbing his hand off on Calum’s sheets and smirking at him, laughing big and bright and all consuming when Calum pushes at his shoulder, and says in disgust, “Luke, those are newly washed sheets!” 

“I know.” He pulls Calum up and over to his bed, smiling like that was his plan all along, mumbling as they settling under the comforter, “My bed’s better.” 

“Luke, we have the same school issued mattress and we bought the same exact pillow, our beds are the _same_.”

Luke shrugs, body loose and pliant against Calum’s, “Fine, sleep in yours.” 

His lips are fighting back a smile and Calum sighs, kissing him quickly on the forehead before he dissolves into laughter, “You took care of that possibility.” 

They fall asleep tangled up in Luke’s too small bed and Calum is calm, feeling like he’s finally right where he’s supposed to be. 

*  
*  
*

A month and a half later they’re tucked up together on the loveseat at the frat house while Ashton and Michael argue loudly about what’s an acceptable thing to drink over breakfast on the couch next to them. Luke fidgets in his seat and moves his hand up to rest gently on Calum’s chest as he leans in to whisper against the shell of Calum’s ear, “Let’s go, Cal. I’m tired.”

He nips at Calum’s earlobe and Calum laughs deep in his throat, Luke’s hand pressing firmer against his chest before pulling away and Calum breathes out, “Yeah. _Tired._ ”

Luke’s eyes light up mischievously, smirking back at Calum, mouth opened to say something right as Niall’s unmistakable laugh interrupts them, vibrating around them unbelievably close. Their eyes both snap toward the sound, Niall standing before them, eyes bright, hair creeping out from under the edges of his snapback, cheeks flushed a faint red like they always do when he’s been drinking. His eyes narrow for a moment, surveying the two of them and then his laugh grows brighter, louder. A short quick huff of air that is unmistakably happy and he beams down at the two of them, nodding at the way they’re pressed against each other, “I see you’ve finally worked your shit out.”

Luke laughs but Calum blushes the faintest bit, still not used to the fact that everyone else could see what was right in front of him when he couldn’t at all, sighing, “Did _everyone_ know?”

Niall and Michael, whose attention is now on them, say in unison, “Yes!” while Ashton looks between the two of them. His eyes rest for a moment on the way Luke’s playing with Calum’s hair, finally tilting his head a bit, saying a little bemused, “I had no idea.”

He laughs while Michael and Niall shake their heads and Calum sighs out in relief, relaxing into Luke again, relieved he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see it. Niall’s eyes dart over toward the corner and he shakes his head softly, something between fondness and exasperation creeping over his features. Calum turns slightly in his seat, following Niall’s glance. 

He finds what Niall’s looking at and smiles. Liam and Harry are leaning against a wall talking; Harry has his arm slung across the back of Liam’s shoulders, pulling him in closer to talk over the buzz of people around them. But Liam doesn’t seem to notice anything around him, completely engrossed in whatever it is Harry’s saying to him. 

Calum turns back to Niall, asking with a smile, “They’re together now?”

Niall shakes his head, laugh mimicking the exasperation written all over his features. “Not quite.” 

He tips his head back, eyes closed briefly, lifting his snapback to scratch at the front of his hair, sighing as he looks back at Calum. “They’re both idiots, you know? They’re fucking now but won’t say they’re dating. It’s thoroughly unbelievable, honestly.” 

Luke tenses next to him just the slightest and Calum finds his knee, squeezing it comfortingly. He pushes out of his seat and pulls Luke with him, smiling at Niall reassuringly, amazed at how easily the words come, how there’s no trace of jealousy at all when he says, “They’ll get there eventually.” 

Niall nods, mumbling a quick, “I know,” before bounding over to Harry and Liam and inserting himself between the two of them, wrapping them up in a hug that would have been somewhat awkward had it been anyone but them. They dissolve into laughter around him, hugging him in kind.

Calum leads Luke out of the house and down the street after saying goodnight to Michael and Ashton. They walk in silence back to their dorm, making it all the way back before Luke asks, voice betraying the tiniest bit of concern, “You’re okay with that?”

Luke doesn’t need to explain. Calum knows what he means. He opens the door and pushes Luke through gently, voice firm with conviction, “Yeah, couldn’t care less. Thought I might’ve but.” 

He shrugs his shoulders to finish his thought and Luke seems to understand, smile overwhelmingly bright as Calum walks closer to him. Luke’s breath hitches as Calum says, “But _enough_ about Liam and Harry,” before closing the gap between their mouths. 

Luke sighs into the kiss, smile never fading and Calum doesn’t know if the thrill of kissing him will ever fade but he’s not bothered by the thought at all -- he likes it, actually. Leaning back to say, teasing, “I think I still owe you those Cheerios,” reveling in the way Luke bites his bottom lip in an attempt not to laugh, shaking his head and saying, “No. I think this is enough.”


End file.
